Finding Safe Haven
by emberrox42
Summary: I was born in Haven, but I've never set foot there. Ever. And after more then a decade away, I just want to go home. But I can't. My name is Jean Dukay Mitchell, and the second I see my father, he'll die. This is the story of how hard he fought to bring me home.
1. Chapter 1

**My name is Jean. Jean Dukay Mitchell. My last name is my mother's, but my middle name is for my father, Duke. I was born in Haven, Maine, and they made a T.V. show about it. Haven, not me. I was a very minor character- sent away the day I was born. I don't own the T.V. series, but I figured it was time my story got out there, so I wrote it up and posted it here. **

Jean Dukay Mitchell was tired. Very tired. She'd lived in an orphanage for most of her life, and she was sick of it. Real sick.

They say she'd had a nice little family once, in Nebraska. She'd been placed there as a baby, her dad assured that she'd be in good hands, and all was well. That family wanted a baby.

She remembers them, sort of. They had a cute little ranch house, and she'd been raised on the farm. They'd had a sheep dog, Shep, who herded up their livestock. She had a fake mom, Lily, a fake father, Roger, and an older brother, Matthew. They had cows and chickens and pigs and ponies and geese and goats, corn and wheat and sugarcane and tomatoes. She'd had a family who loved her, and they always said that that's what her daddy would have wanted.

But then they all died. The ranch caught on fire late one night, when she was out at a friend's house, and they all died without her.

Was there something wrong with her? Why did everyone always leave her?

They called a woman. She was the contact number left with Jean when she was a baby. According to the state, Audrey had said that she would do everything she could for Jean, but that she couldn't take Jean in, and neither could Jean's daddy.

Jean wondered if this woman was her mother. They let her talk to her, after Audrey had gotten her placed in a good orphanage. Jean was worried about the orphanage being like in Annie, but there wasn't a Miss Hannigan, and they let her talk to Audrey. She'd never had any contact with her old life before.

She asked Audrey if she was her mother, but Audrey laughed. No, she'd said, I'm just a policewoman. I was there when you were born. I have a picture of you on my cell phone. I'm good friends with your daddy.

They'd kept in contact over the years. Whenever Jean got a turn on the orphanage's computer, she always emailed Audrey, and the woman told her what was going on in her hometown. She'd had fantasies that Audrey would come riding into Nebraska one day and whisk her back to Maine, back home, but Audrey always said she couldn't.

Jean wanted Audrey to be her mother. Audrey was nice, and she loved her without having ever met her. She told her what her dad was doing- apparently her father was a smuggler. She liked to imagine he was Han Solo. Was that why he gave her up? So that Jean wouldn't be caught between him and the law? Maybe he was just trying to protect her.

But then, when Jean was old enough to explain, Audrey told her why she could never meet her dad. Jean suspected that there was more to it than Audrey had explained, but she said that being around Jean could kill her dad, and so she could never come home.

That changed everything. Jean didn't know why, but for some reason her dad was, like, allergic to her. He didn't give her up because he didn't want her- he gave her up because he couldn't have her.

And then that fateful day happened.

**To:** DenimNLeather. **From: **GreyGull. **Date: **10:32 EST 11/19/2012. **Subject:** (No Subject)

Jean,

I know I'm not ever supposed to be involved in your life. I don't know how much Audrey told you, but if there was a way I could drive down to Nebraska and pick you up, you'd be living with me in a heartbeat. I promise. And so when I found your email on Audrey's desk, I couldn't help but steal it.

I've thought about you a lot over the years. You're 11 now, right? And your birthday is August 6th. I've never forgotten. Always throw you a party every year, except Audrey and Nathan are the only ones who come because they're the only ones besides me who know you exist. We've been working on calming down the town, so maybe someday I could actually meet you. I'd really love that. I live on a boat. You want to live on a boat? It's real neat.

Audrey says you're a real farm kid, huh? I guess Haven would take some getting used to, then. There's more fish here, and less cows. I hope you'd like it. I haven't always lived here- I left for a while after school- but Haven really is home for me. I think, maybe someday, it could be your home. Audrey and Nathan know how much I want you to come and live with me, and we've been trying to figure out a cure. But I figure talking to you through the computer can't hurt, right? So even if this is the only way I can watch my beautiful girl grow up, I'm never going to give up.

I'm not a very mushy guy, and if you ask anyone they'll tell you that I'm not responsible. At all. And I disagree, but you know small towns. They don't change their opinions of you. Ever. Not even Audrey could see me being a dad. I guess I'm the kind of guy who would forget you at school and send cans of soup with you in your sack lunch, and I'd feed you takeout every night, and you'd probably never like your birthday presents. I've gotten you a bottle of scotch four years in a row, but you're never there, so I drink it for you. I hope you don't mind. You're not allowed to drink it anyway.

But if Audrey ever figures something out, and I think she will (Audrey's smart) I promise you, kid, I'll do my best to be the greatest dad you ever wanted in the history of dads. Got that?

You better write me back, kid, or you're grounded.

Duke. (Your father)

**'''''''''''''''''''''''''Reply'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Forward'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Delete''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Move to'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Junk''''''''''''''''''''''''''''**

Jean immediately saved it. She read it fifty times over, responded immediately, and then read it again. She was so excited! She had a dad. A real dad! And he sounded like a really cool dad too, not some boring corporate man. He had a boat! And someday she'd go live with him on the boat, and maybe Audrey would be there to pick her up from school when her dad forgot, and they'd sit on the floor of his boat and eat takeout every night, and it'd be great!

Despite being smart, the years kept going by without Audrey finding a cure. Sometimes Duke would say that they were really close, and he thought that they should be able to meet within the year, but it never really happened. Jean didn't mind. She had a dad, even if he was only a computer.

Then she turned 14, and really weird things happened. Blood made her sick to be around- real sick. She wondered if maybe she had Duke's illness. And sometimes, when she or the other kids at the orphanage were hurt she could just touch them and they'd get better. So she contacted Audrey to find out what was wrong with her, and if it was maybe terminal.

Audrey told her that there was this thing called the Troubles in Haven. Apparently she was the result of her mother's Trouble, conceived and born in just two days, and that's why she couldn't be around her dad. It was all her mother's fault. They were worried that Jean would inherit her mother's Trouble, but it looked like she got some warped version of her father's.

When her father touched the blood of other Troubled people, he got really strong. He could also kill people to end the trouble in their family line, but he wasn't too proud of that one. They didn't know that at the time, but Audrey guessed that Duke's nature had changed Jean's trouble. Since he wanted so desperately to be good person, Audrey surmised, it got passed down to her somehow and she became a healer instead of a killer. And as for her problems with blood, it was the exact opposite of her father, so that had to be his influence too, right? But Audrey had sorted it out with her over the computer, and together Jean learned to control her powers.

And that brought Jean to where she was now- fifteen years old, stuck in an orphanage in Omaha Nebraska, with a father and a family friend who loved her very much just a keyboard away.

There was a knock on the door as Jean finished up sweeping the front lobby, and since Jean was the closest, she went and opened the door.

A blonde woman dressed in khaki pants and a navy blue blazer smiled warmly at her, and a scruffy looking man with dark hair stood a good bit behind her. The woman looked over her shoulder at him concernedly, before turning back to Jean.

"Hi there. My name is Audrey Parker, Haven P.D-"

"This isn't an investigation, Parker." the man interrupted, and he looked fairly nervous, wringing his hands and looking around everywhere. "You're off the clock." The woman glared at him.

"Fine." She declared, turning back to Jean.

"My name is Audrey Parker, and I'm here to bring Jean Mitchell home."


	2. Chapter 2

**Duke and Audrey say that since they're involved a lot in this story, they ought to get their point of view published too, so I let them have a say in this, even if it is MY life story. So this chapter they have been looking over my shoulder and throwing their opinions at me. They don't own the T.V. show based on their lives either, Audrey wanted me to remind you. She says that the last thing she needs as a cop is to get put in jail for copyright. Even if it is her life. Duke says it doesn't really matter since he has friends in high places, but since his friends in high places are Audrey and Nathan, I think I'm gonna do what Audrey says. **

"Duke?" Jean whispered, staring at the man behind Audrey. She glanced back at Audrey, whose grin widened. The three of them surveyed each other for a long moment, trying to match up the people in front of them to the people they'd been chatting with for years.

Jean was shorter than Duke had expected. He supposed she'd gotten that from her mother. She had his hair, dark, long, and unruly, tied up in a ponytail. Her face shape, however, was more like her mother's. Helena's, that is, not Beady's. It was kind of confusing seeing as she was a mix of three people. Luckily, her predominant features were her father's. She had his warm, cinnamon brown eyes, and he could tell that she had his roguish grin, when she wasn't completely in shock. (**For the record, that description was all from Duke. And was it just me, or was it a little more than creepy?**)

He'd expected her to be dressed in an old ratty dress, with maybe a pinafore on. Because apparently visions of Annie danced in his head as well. So he was fairly surprised when she was dressed in an old pair of blue jeans, a grey tank top, and a plaid button up.

"Is it really you?" Jean asked, nervously. She surveyed her father closely, trying to see if his proximity to her was killing him. He seemed alright.

"It's really me, kid." Duke said, speaking for the first time. He seemed somewhat in awe, despite the fact that he knew what awaited him behind that door. "Told you Audrey was smart."

"But… But how?" Jean asked, not trusting what she saw. It had to be a dream, right? Her father, Audrey, and Nathan had been working for 15 years trying to find a way around her mother's Trouble, what would change now?"

"The thing is, Audrey is immune to the Troubles. I don't know if she ever told you that. But she found a way to transfer that immunity to me-"

"through a blood transfusion-"

"And now I'm immune to the Troubles too. The only important one being your mother's trouble."

"Can…Can I hug you?" Jean asked, cautiously, and Duke grinned.

"I think so. I'll let you know if I explode."

And so Jean finally had her moment, the one every orphan dreams of. That moment where her family shows up and they run at each other and hug for, like, ten minutes straight.

"You don't know how long I've waited for this, kid." Duke breathed, burying his face in his daughter's hair.

"Uh… 15 years, three months and 12 days?" Jean asked, and Audrey rolled her eyes.

"Yup, you're his kid alright."

Jean let go of her father and turned to Audrey.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." She declared, turning and hugging the women. Audrey laughed.

"Trust me, with this one whining all the time, it was as much for me as it was for you two."

"So I'm going home now? Do I get to meet my mom now too?"

"NO!" Duke and Audrey yelled at the same time.

"o…kay."Jean replied nervously, and Duke slung his arm around her shoulder.

"It's nothing personal, kid. Not even I can see your mom, you know? She used to be the harbourmaster out in Haven, but now she lives locked up in a lighthouse 24/7 so she doesn't accidentally kill people. It's just better that way."

"Yeah, I can get that." Jean shrugged. "I guess having a dad and no mom is better than nothing."

"Anyway, we think that if your mom ever touches you that it could kill Duke, so we don't really want to take that chance." Audrey added, and Jean nodded.

"Are you sure it'll be ok for me to be around you?" She asked her father worriedly, and he grinned at her.

"Unless I start growing old really fast, like in a span of hours, we're good. And if that ever happens, then run. Just run the other way and don't look back, and IM me when you get somewhere safe. And then we'll just start all over again."

"No offense, but I don't want to have to wait another 15 years to see you again." Jean said, and Duke ruffled her hair.

"Neither do I, kiddo. Neither do I."

"Why don't you go and get your stuff packed up and say goodbye to your friends, and Duke and I will go take care of the legal issues." Audrey suggested, and Duke smirked.

"That's why I brought her along. Because she knows the law better than anyone else."

"I don't know." Audrey teased, rolling her eyes. "You spend enough time running from the law that you ought to have it memorized word for word by now."

They left Jean behind as they made their way to the office.

"She seems like a sweet girl." Audrey commented, and Duke nodded.

"She's a looker too. Couldn't expect anything less from my kid."

"Of course." Audrey laughed. "She does look a lot like you. Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Duke asked, looking up at Audrey, and she smirked at him.

"You look scared to death. And you're not talking near as much as normal. And you made me knock on the door."

"It's just… I don't know how to be a father, Audrey. I mean, you and Nathan have raised your kid from the start, and here I am jumping in in the middle after abandoning her for all those years. I still don't feel like I'm grown up enough to have a kid, you know?"

"Well, then it's a good thing you didn't have to go through her terrible two's then. Trust me Duke; you got the easy part with less diapers."

"But she's a teenager! She's gonna have boy trouble, and best friend angst, and she's gonna sneak out all the time, and get drunk, and I'm gonna find her passed out in a ditch somewhere-"

"Duke, stop." Audrey interrupted. "She seems like a good kid, she really does. And Scott's the same age as her, and do you see Nathan and I having that kind of trouble with him? You're her dad, Duke. Nothing's going to change that. And do we even have ditches in Haven?"

"Will you and Wuornos help me out sometime?" Duke asked, ignoring Audrey's last comment. "Until I can figure out how to be a dad?"

"Of course we will." Audrey smiled. "The three of us stick together, no matter what. Whether it's saving the town from someone's Trouble or raising children. You were there for me and Nathan when we had Scott, remember?"

"I remember how they wouldn't let me in to see you guys since I wasn't family." Duke wrinkled his nose, and Audrey grinned.

"And then Nathan and I named you the godfather so they'd have to let you in. See? You'll be a perfectly good dad. Scott was just a warm up. Now are you going to do this, or are you going to chicken out and drive all the way back to Haven without her?" Audrey demanded. Duke nodded and opened the door of the office.

"My name is Duke Crocker and I'm here to adopt my daughter back!"

**Line Break**

"It's done." Duke said as Jean walked back into the front lobby with her two duffle bags of stuff. "Is that all you have?"

"Yeah. Most of my stuff was destroyed in the fire." Jean replied with a shrug. Duke took her bags from her.

"I thought that was years ago." He frowned, and walked outside to put her things in his truck.

"It was. But the orphanage isn't in charge of buying me material things. Just food, clothes, shelter, the essentials, you know?" Jean shrugged, looking around the orphanage one last time. She was going to miss this place. It wasn't much, but it was home.

"You already said good bye to your friends?" Duke asked, noting the crowd of children hanging onto the banister on the stairs, watching Jean. She nodded, but turned away anyway, going down the line of kids and hugging them one by one. Duke couldn't help but notice that most of them were a good bit younger than her. A little girl broke out of the bunch and flung herself at Jean, and Jean caught the girl, swinging her up into her arms. Duke and Audrey watched as she whispered into the little girl's ear and set her down, wiping a tear off her cheek.

"Hey, I think you lucked out with this kid." Audrey said, leaning over to Duke. "It looks like she's a pretty responsible, mature kid. Maybe she was the psuedomom for these kids here. At any rate, I think the Haven PD is still going to have to worry more about you than your kid."

Duke elbowed her in the gut as Jean returned to them, waving at kids she was leaving behind.

"You ready to go, kid? It's going to take us one day and three hours to get there, so we're going to want to set out as soon as possible."

"Yeah, I'm ready." Jean replied, standing beside his truck and looking back at the orphanage. "Hey, what am I supposed to call you? I mean, you are my dad and all, but you signed all your emails Duke, so that's what I came to think of you as."

"You can just call me Duke. I think dad would be a little weird for both of us." Duke shrugged. "It's up to you."

Jean nodded with a smile, and Duke opened the door of the truck for her.

"Have you had any lunch yet?" Audrey interrupted, and Jean shook her head. "Alright, we'll pick you up a burger or something on the way. Hey, Duke, that's lesson one in being a dad. You have to feed your kid."

Duke stuck his tongue out at Audrey and turned to face Jean. "Look, Jean, I can't promise to be the best dad, but I'm going to do my best, ok? So if I ever forget to feed you or something, just head on over to Aunt Audrey's house and steal all her food, got it?"

"Got it." Jean replied with a roguish grin. "Audrey…er, Mrs Parker, I feel like I'll be spending a lot of time at your house."

"Probably." Audrey nodded. "But Nathan- that's my husband- and I would be glad to have you. Duke hangs out at our house enough anyway. We have a son, Scott, who's your age."

"She kept her last name." Duke explained to Jean's confused look. "Anyway, we'll get you situated when we get home, but for now let's just get on the road. It's a long trip." Jean nodded and buckled her seatbelt as Duke started the truck.

And so began the tale of Duke and Jean. (**And, yeah, it was Duke being that corny, for the record. I had nothing to do with it!**)


	3. Chapter 3

**Once you start writing an autobiography, it's really hard to stop, you know that? I mean, I'm older now- I'm taking classes off at the college- and I keep setting aside my homework to work on this! Anyway, I'm sure by now you guys have figured out that I don't own the T.V. show Haven, the one based on my dad's life, and-well, none of us do. Not me, not Duke, not Audrey and not Nathan. So can we agree to that and not sue me if I don't put up that disclaimer up in the following chapters? I'll probably sneak them in anyway. Just because I've got some contacts in the legal system doesn't mean I should exploit them… **

**I've been getting some reviews from you guys! You lot really are great. I think this is the fastest any if you have taken to one of my stories, and this one isn't even made up like the rest! Special thanks to STforRK, KK161990, artzannie25, and Doks for giving me feedback! I've always thought my story needed to be told, and I guess you guys agree with me…**

"Jean? Hey, kid, wake up." Duke called, shaking her shoulder with one hand. He turned his attention from the road to the girl and back.

"Mmfhghm?" Jean mumbled sleepily, and Duke couldn't help but grin. She'd spent most of the trip with her feet propped up on the dashboard, but around eleven at night she curled up into a ball in the front passenger seat. Audrey hadn't bothered to wake her up when she turned the wheel back over to Duke, instead crawling into the backseat to crash just like the younger girl.

"We're about 20 minutes out from Haven. I figured you'd want to be awake for it." He explained, and Jean scrambled to sit up, somehow tangling herself up in the seatbelt. He laughed as the seat cover slid down the seat, sending her flying back flat on her back. She frowned at him and unbuckled her seatbelt, straightening up, and re-buckled herself.

"I'm hungry." She stated, and Duke chuckled to himself.

"You slept through breakfast. And lunch." He explained. "We'll be stopping for dinner soon."

"It's dark." Jean commented.

"Observant, aren't you? It's winter. It starts getting dark early." Duke teased, and Jean yawned, trying to re-orient herself.

"Sorry. It takes me a while to wake up."

"You get that from your dad." Audrey snorted from the backseat.

"Oh, like you know." Duke rolled his eyes, and Audrey grinned.

"I seem to remember a lot of stakeouts that you happened to fall asleep on."

"Wait, so are you a police officer too?" Jean asked, turning to her father. He shrugged and allowed Audrey to explain.

"He comes on investigations with us a lot. Even though he's not supposed to."

"I'm actually a business owner. I've got a restaurant." Duke explained. "Haven't I told you that?"

"You might have mentioned it." Jean shrugged. She propped her feet back up on the dashboard, and Duke turned the radio back up. Jean stared out the window trying to pick something out in the darkness. How was she supposed to know what Haven looked like when she couldn't even see it?

They fell silent for a good while, and Jean wondered if it would always be like that with them. Awkward, that is. She expected it to be, of course, moving in with a stranger, but at the same time she had that childish expectation that Duke would come storming in in a blaze of glory and then she'd be home instantly, and he'd be the perfect dad, and they'd never have awkward silences. Ever.

Duke proved her wrong, seeing as a vast majority of the trip was an awkward silence that Audrey was constantly trying to break.

"We're crossing the border into Haven now. We could probably meet up with Nathan at the Gull for dinner. I happen to know the owner- I bet he'd get us an employee discount. He's a pretty cool guy. Good looker too."

"He is the owner." Audrey explained to Jean, and the girl smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners.

"I kind of figured."

"Anyway, Nathan's really excited to meet you. Well, as excited as Nathan gets. Don't let him fool you, he's really a softie."

"A softie that tried to kill me." Duke grumbled, and Audrey rolled her eyes.

"One time." She scoffed. "He got over it, why can't you?"

"Oh, I don't know, because he TRIED TO KILL ME?"

"Nathan and your father have been at each other's throats since grade school." Audrey explained. " They're like… frenemies."

"Frienemies?" Jean questioned.

"Friendly enemies? Least favourite brothers? They love to hate each other. It's some kind of friendly rivalry or something."

"It wasn't very friendly when he tried to kill me." Duke insisted, but Audrey ignored him.

"I think they're actually best friends, they just can't admit it. Men." She sighed.

"Go figure." Jean shrugged with a smile.

"Wuornos is NOT my best friend. He's not even my friend. I just hang out with him because of you." Duke complained, and Audrey smirked.

"Keep telling yourself that, Crocker."

"That reminds me." Jean piped up, and both adults turned their attention to her. "So my last name is Mitchell, right? But, I mean, do you really want people to know who my mom is? Since I was an accident and all."

"Jean." Duke started, turning towards her. Audrey sat back in her seat trying to give the two their space. "You know I'm not ashamed of you or your mother, right? I may not have expected your mother to have, y'know, tried to kill me and all, but she's still an important part of who you are."

"I just figured that you wouldn't want people connecting you and Beady, since Helena is technically my mother. Beady was married, wasn't she? We wouldn't want to ruin her reputation."

"Good point." Duke frowned, thinking. "And Beady's family is the only Mitchell family in town, aren't they? So it's not like we could claim you were someone else's. Could you- I mean, would you- well, do you want to be Jean Crocker?" he managed to spit out, and Jean looked at him thoughtfully.

"Don't you want to give me a fake name or something? Didn't you just adopt me?"

"Actually," Duke began, glancing back at Audrey "I think I just fought a custody battle for you. But I'm not really sure."

"Yeah, me neither." Audrey shrugged. "The whole adopting back his daughter part really threw them for a loop."

"Anyway, Jean, I'd be proud for you to be a Crocker. Just because I never planned on you doesn't mean I don't want you. I just got in a car and drove for 27 hours just to get you and drive 27 hours back, didn't I? I'd be honoured if you'd take my last name." Jean smiled happily and looked down at her lap, blushing.

"I'd like that." She declared. "But, uh, can I keep Mitchell as a middle name or something? I don't want to get rid of it entirely, you know."

"Of course kiddo. You know it's not going to be easy, right? Small towns talk and all. Most of the gossip should be directed at me, since I'm just showing up out of the blue with a teenaged daughter, but the town's never really liked me much anyway. I'm kind of like the resident black sheep. I don't think they'll bother you too much but I can't guarantee they won't judge you, since you're my kid and all. You just tell me if anyone's bothering you, ok? Leave it to me to deal with. I don't want you getting a reputation like mine before anyone even gives you a chance."

"Duke." Jean interrupted with a smile. "I was raised in an orphanage. My foster family died when I was ten years old. I've depended on myself for pretty much everything, since the home wasn't very well off financially. I was raised as a farmer's daughter. I'm pretty tough. I can take people talking about me behind my back. If you're not ashamed of me as a kid, then I'm not ashamed of you as a dad. I've got your back."

"And I've got yours." Duke replied with a grin. "I happen to be on a first name basis with the judge in this town. First thing tomorrow we'll set a court date to see about changing your name."

Jean smiled happily to herself. She wasn't too worried about forgetting her name- she'd been playing around with it since she first found out her father's name, four years ago.

"Jean Dukay Mitchell Crocker." She said thoughtfully. "It's a bit long."

"Has a ring to it though." Duke added with a shrug, and Jean nodded.

"Everyone will just call me Jean anyway. Or Jean Mitchell Crocker. Whichever."

"Good point. Anyway, this is the Gull." Duke pronounced, turning off the engine. "Are the Wuornos boys going to meet us inside, Audrey?"

"Yeah. Apparently Nathan's been there since five. Rough day, I guess." Audrey replied, looking up from her phone.

"Ok, well, you'll probably be spending a lot of your time here, Jean. I mean, I do, so I just figured you would. The people are great. You can just, like, come here after school or something because I don't get off work until late, so I probably won't be home."

"Sounds great." Jean nodded, getting out of the truck. "I'm attending public school?"

"Did you expect a private school? This isn't like big city Omaha. We don't have one." Duke shrugged, and Jean laughed.

"Actually, no. I've just never been to school before."

"Never?" Duke asked, and he and Audrey stared at the girl. Jean twirled her unruly charcoal locks around a finger nervously and attempted to explain.

"Well, they tutored us at the orphanage. It was like home-schooling, except with a group. There were only two other high school age kids, though." She shrugged. It wasn't that much of a big deal, right? How different could school be?

"And before that?" Audrey prompted. "Didn't your family send you to school?"

"Oh, no. Matthew and I were home schooled so that we wouldn't have to be pulled out of school every year at harvest time. It was just easier that way."

"Ok, well, when we get home I'm going to give you a crash course on high school so you can survive your first day tomorrow. But for now, let's forget all of that and just go meet up with the Wuornos boys and party until morning." Duke declared, and Jean smiled.

"Sounds like a plan."

She followed Duke and Audrey into the restaurant, watching as the waitress greeted them. She glanced around, noting a boy her age and a man around Audrey's age watching them from the corner. Duke and Audrey led her over in that direction.

"Duke, Audrey." The man declared, nodding at her father and hugging Audrey.

"Hey Nathan. Hey Scott." Audrey greeted, kissing her son on the cheek.

"Well, boys, I'd like you to meet the special little lady in my life. Nathan, Scott, this is my daughter, Jean."

"Jean." Nathan declared, standing up. He seemed hesitant on whether or not he should hug her, so Jean reached over and hugged him herself. "The last time I saw you, you were just a baby."

"He's the one holding you in this picture." Audrey threw in, handing Jean her mobile phone.

"Wow. I was so… wrinkly." Jean declared, looking up at the group. "It's weird knowing that all these years I had you guys here. That I had a family."

"Well, Audrey and I are only technically your godparents." Nathan interrupted, sitting back down. Jean took a seat next to Audrey.

"You are?" She asked, looking over at the blonde police officer. She had always dreamed that Audrey was her mother…

"Yeah." Audrey laughed. "Duke named us on a whim when you were adopted out. Nathan and I weren't even dating yet, but I guess he had the right idea." She concluded, kissing her husband.

"Gross, mom!" Scott complained. "Not in front of Jean! Or me!"

"I have to go manage my restaurant. Be back in a few." Duke declared, and Audrey groaned.

"Duke, it's your day off. Sit down and get to know your daughter." She demanded.

"I will, I will, it's just…" He broke off, distracted. "Hey! Hey Nora, what are you doing? Nora, look at these two men and tell me that they aren't about to knock each other's block's off. What are you doing about it?" He moved away from the woman he was yelling at and turned to the men. "Hey, buddy, take it outside, will you?"

"He's about to get his spine snapped in two, isn't he?" Jean asked, and Audrey nodded.

"Your father's the kind of weasel that always manages to squeeze through ok." Nathan spoke up. "I wouldn't worry about him."

"Nathan!" Audrey admonished, and they all watched Duke lead the two men outside. "So, Jean, tell us about yourself."

"Well, um, I like riding horses. I had a horse of my own, a paint named Daisy, but I lost her in the fire." Jean declared sadly. "My favourite colour's red, and I'm allergic to celery. I'm really good at farming, and if you ever need any crops grown, I'm your girl."

"Come to think of it, Haven has been having trouble with our crops lately. We're more of a fishing village, so we haven't really bothered figuring out how to increase our surplus." Nathan stated. Jean grinned.

"Well, if there's anything I know, its agriculture. I might head out to y'all's fields sometime and check it out."

"How do you like Haven so far?" The boy, Scott, asked.

"I've only been here for about twenty minutes, so I don't really have an opinion on the place yet." Jean laughed. The waitress approached their table with trays laden with food, pop, and liquor.

"Duke says to tell you it's all on the house. And that you'd better save some booze for him." She reported, turning back to the bar. Jean accepted the pop that Audrey handed her and tucked into her food.

"I don't normally eat like this, I promise!" She reassured between bites. "I haven't eaten since dinner yesterday and I'm starving! I normally have better manners."

"Go for it." Nathan shrugged, and the three stared open mouthed as Jean quickly devoured more food than any person should be able to fit in their stomachs. Duke came back to an empty table about twenty minutes later.

"I know I only said to save me some booze, but I figured the food was a given." He declared, staring at all the empty plates.

"Jean ate it all." Audrey quickly spoke up, and Duke blinked.

"All of it?" Jean nodded sheepishly. "You're going to eat me out of house and home, aren't you?

"Only if you forget to feed me lunch and dinner." Jean replied innocently, batting her eyes. "What was rule number one again?"

"You have to feed your kid." Duke mumbled, hanging his head. "You were asleep!"

"I like this kid." Nathan whispered to Audrey, and she elbowed him in the gut.

"We're going to take off, Duke. It's a school night." Audrey said, standing. "Don't keep Jean up too late either. And Jean, I hope you get settled in alright. Give me a call if you need anything, alright? You still have my number, right?"

"Yeah." Jean nodded. "But I don't have a phone."

"There's one on the Cape Rouge." Duke shrugged. Jean tilted her head. "My boat." He clarified.

"It was nice meeting you guys." Jean smiled, shaking Nathan's hand.

"You too, Jean. Keep Duke out of trouble, you hear?" Nathan declared.

"I thought that was your job." Jean gestured to Nathan's gun, and Duke burst out laughing.

"Dibs!" he cried, and Nathan rolled his eyes.

"You can't call dibs, Duke. She's already your kid."

The Wuornos family left not long after, and Duke ran off to manage his restaurant. Jean found a seat in a corner and watched her father running around trying to keep everything in order. She missed the kids at the orphanage already and was feeling nervous about actually going to school. She was a pretty quiet kid- she'd learned early on in the orphanage to keep her head down to stay out of trouble- but on T.V. the kids at school all seemed so talkative and outgoing. Of course, she only ever got to watch what the rest of kids wanted to watch, so most of her knowledge of high school came from Disney Channel.

The Grey Gull eventually began to clear out, and she noticed Duke sitting at the bar alone pouring himself a shot. She moved over to his side and sat down.

"Want one?" He asked, raising the bottle, and she shook her head.

"No, thanks." She declined, and he nodded.

"Oh, yeah. You're too young. You can't have this." He stated, setting the bottle far away from her.

"I wasn't trying to take it, Duke." Jean snorted. "Busy night?"

"Not really. Just long. I'm behind on my book-keeping." He shrugged. "Are you any good at math?"

"Not unless 2+2 really does equal fish in your books." Jean replied with a grimace.

"Yeah, no, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to equal four." Duke raised an eyebrow. "I gotta get you into school, kid. And fast."

"Well, I start tomorrow." Jean offered, and Duke nodded.

"That you do. Come on, let's get you back to the Cape Rouge. Give you a chance to settle in before class. I'll give you a crash course on public school when we get back."

"Are you sure you're ok to drive?" Jean asked, eyeing the bottle. He turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, kiddo. I've barely had any." Jean watched him sceptically, and he sighed. "Do you really think I'm going to try and kill my kid the first day?" She continued to look at him, and he pulled out his phone.

"Hey, Audrey, it's Duke. So I've had one drink, a shot of whiskey, and I've had food beforehand. It was a standard drink size, nothing too crazy. Am I ok to drive?" he asked, rolling his eyes at his daughter.

"Um… yeah, the BAC calculator says you're at .02, so you should be ok. It's not illegal until .08. Dang, Jean's a good influence on you! You've known her, what, a day, and you're already thinking before you do things? Kudos to the kid!"

"Yeah, well, she wouldn't get in the car until I cleared that up. Thanks Parker." He replied, hanging up. "So, we good to go now?"

"Yeah. " Jean nodded. "Let's go home, Duke."


	4. Chapter 4

**Jean here. Ok, so this chapter was all me. No Duke reading over my shoulder or anything. Keep in mind, though, this all happened back when I was fifteen, and I'm off at uni now, so I might not perfectly remember the conversations with my dad word for word. He remembers it better than I do anyway. I got some comments from you guys, so I guess I'll try to clear all your questions up.**

**Doks:**** I have no idea if my dad still has a crush on Aunt Audrey. I've tried really hard not to notice, you know? It just seems creepy. Um, about the school thing, Duke had my records before I got to Haven. I didn't realize that me starting the next day was weird since I've never been to school before, so I didn't really clearify that. Sorry! I'm not sure how you can not like Scott after I only gave him about two lines last chapter- he didn't talk to me much that first week- but its whatever. And yeah, our names do go along with the whole X-men thing, huh? Well, every Jean needs her Scott… Anyway, Uncle Nathan's not in this chapter, sorry, but I hope you'll like it anyway!**

**KK161990:**** I haven't gotten to my first day, but unfortunately you're pretty close to how it went. But it's cool. I got a great family out of it!**

**STforRK****: Yeah, my whole Haven family is pretty snarky and sarcastic, so we've got a whole lot of crazy banter going on up here. And yeah, I think Duke did a pretty good job as my dad, even if I was pretty unexpected…**

**Um, none of us up here in Haven own anything to do with that show on SyFy. We just own our own lives!**

"That's the Cape Rouge." Duke declared, pride evident in his voice. "She's a real beauty, isn't she?"

Jean smiled awkwardly, unsure of boater language. Was she supposed to agree with that?

"Um… Aye…er… Captain…Duke?" She stated, hesitantly, and Duke laughed.

"Don't worry, kid, Living on a boat is just like living in a small flat. It's cramped and uncomfortable sometimes, but its home."

"I can deal with cramped and uncomfortable." Jean sighed in relief. "Back at the orphanage I shared a room with twelve other girls."

"Well, now it's just you and me. You even get your own bedroom!" Duke added, and Jean's eyes widened.

"I've _never_ had my own bedroom before. Even before the orphanage, Matthew and I roomed together because Lily and Roger only had a two room ranch house."

"Ok, well, I'll probably explain boating to you as we go along- soon enough you'll be an ample seaman, but for now you just need to know this." Duke stopped, orienting himself, and then pointed directions. "Port. Starboard. Fore. Aft. Bow. Stern. Your bed is the rack, the kitchen is the galley. Not that I'll ever call it that. I'll have to teach you knot tying, but that can wait for another time. Um… if anyone yells batten down the hatches, that means there's a storm coming and we need to get everything secured. The people here at the marina are pretty good about looking out for each other like that. This is above deck, that's below deck. I'm sure you've figured that out. Anyhow, I'll take you to your quarters. I'll probably be above deck whenever you're ready to figure out this whole public school thing."

"Ok, great." Jean nodded, committing his instructions to memory.

"Come on." Duke called, leading her to the door heading below deck. She followed him down below deck to a narrow hallway. "It's the third door on the right."

Jean nodded, stepping forward to open the door, and Duke followed her inside. The room was fairly small, but large enough for her. A twin sized bed with navy blue sheets was pushed in the far corner, and it was bolted down to the floor. In fact, everything was bolted down. There was a wardrobe across from the bed, since there was no closet, and a nightstand next to the bed. A wooden trunk graced the foot of the bed, and a round port hole window was on the far wall.

"It's not much, but its home." Duke said, slightly embarrassed with the shoddy living quarters.

"It's perfect." Jean smiled, hugging Duke. She set down her only two bags on the bed.

"We're going to have to take you shopping, huh?" Duke asked, surveying her lack of belongings. Jean shook her head.

"Why? I don't need much." He shrugged, and sat down on the edge of Jean's bed, patting the spot beside him. She sat cross legged, waiting.

"Ok, Jean, I can tell you I'm a good guy, ok?" Duke began, and Jean nodded, not sure where this was going. "Well, some of the business I do- used to do- ok, still do, isn't quite as legitimate as the Gull."

"I know that, Duke. Audrey said about as much when we were on the way here. It's ok."

"I know you know that." Duke nodded, glancing around the room. "But the thing is, I don't want to get you all caught up in my problems, ok? I keep guns aboard the ship, and I'm gonna have to teach you to use them. We'll get into that later, but the thing you need to know is that all guns are always loaded. Ok? I don't care if you are 100% positive that you're handling an unloaded gun, you treat it like it's loaded. Got it?"

"Got it." Jean nodded.

"If anyone tries to talk to you and you don't know them, even if they say they know me- especially if they say they know me- you don't talk to them. You turn and run the other way, got it?"

"Yup."

"And if you ever need help and I'm not there, just yell really loud. The people here at the marina are great, and they'll come find me. Don't let the police try to shove you around- you're not me, and they can't treat you that way just because you're my kid. Nathan and Audrey should look out for you- they're pretty good to me- but don't talk to anyone on the force except them."

"Ok."

"And if anyone ever asks you about a box, you tell them this: I don't know, Duke doesn't tell me anything. And if they say they're from Russia, then run. The Russians really don't like me right now…"

"Got it. Guns are loaded, don't talk to the police, stay away from the Russians, and that's port."

"Uh, that's port." Duke pointed, correcting her. "But pretty good otherwise. Just keep an eye out for trouble, ok? I'm going to leave you to get settled in. I've got a poker game set up above deck if you want to play."

"Sure. I'll be up in a jiffy."

"Nobody says jiffy, Jean. Nobody."

"I do." Jean shot back, sticking out her tongue.

"Whatever, kid." Duke laughed, leaving her room. The door slammed shut behind him, and Jean jumped. She was used to the doors always being open back in Nebraska, but she guessed being on a boat meant that the heavy doors slammed shut with the tides. She turned to her bag, pulling out her clothes and hanging them in the wardrobe. Maybe Duke was right- she could do with a few more belongings. Maybe more than a week's worth of clothes. She turned back to her bag, digging out the four books she owned- To Kill a Mockingbird, A Tale of Two Cities, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Grapes of Wrath- and set them on the nightstand. She turned back to her bags; pulling out the only things she had left- An old fashioned cloth stuffed rabbit that had seen far too many years, and a framed picture of her foster family. She kissed the rabbit on its head, setting it down gently on her bed before changing into her one pair of pyjama pants and a white tank top. Jean sighed and lay back on her new bed, closing her eyes and hugging the rabbit. Despite the drive taking a full day, it still felt like this was happening so fast. She just needed a minute to herself…

She opened her eyes an hour later, and sat up, clutching the stuffed rabbit to her chest and patting down the hall in her bare feet. Duke looked up as she opened the door, and set down a deck of cards.

"Thought you fell asleep in there. How are you?"

"Tired. Aren't you? You've been driving two days nonstop."

"Audrey spelled me." Duke shrugged. "What's with Mr. Whiskers?"

"Her name is Sadie." Jean corrected defensively. "Lily gave her to me when I was a baby."

"Was Lily a good mom?" Duke asked quietly, and Jean nodded.

"The best."

There was a pregnant pause, and then Duke picked up the deck of cards and began shuffling it. "Oh, yeah, that spot over there? Trapdoor. I got a handgun underneath it, so be careful. There're shotguns in the ship's hold, over there, I'll teach you to use them-"

"-I've used a shotgun before." Jean interrupted, and Duke tipped his head.

"You have?"

"Roger used to take me hunting." Jean shrugged. "Since I was 8."

"Right. Roger. Your foster father." Jean caught his eye, accepting the cards he handed her.

"I know it's awkward, another man raising your daughter." She declared quietly. "But for what it's worth, I'm here now."

"Yeah. You're here now." Duke nodded, looking at his cards. "You're going to fold aren't you?"

"Heck no!" Jean laughed, looking at her own. "If anyone's folding, it's you!"

"You've got on your poker face, don't you?" Duke asked, narrowing his eyes. Jean grinned innocently.

"You should fold" She sang, and Duke blinked, alarmed. "What?"

"Nothing. Just some… game I had here on my boat once, before you. Some guys were trying to take a box I was storing. One of them was, like, some kind of mind reader or something. Anyway, he said that just like you." Duke shrugged, looking back at his cards.

"I'm not gonna steal your box, Duke, chill." Jean laughed. "But seriously, you should fold."

"What are we playing for anyway?" Duke asked, and Jean raised an eyebrow.

"Any money we play for is yours. I've got nothing. So unless this is some funky way of giving me an allowance…"

"How about information?"

"What?"

"You lose; you tell me something about yourself. Same here." Duke explained, and Jean nodded.

"Throw in some gummy worms and you got yourself a deal." He tossed her the bag at his feet, and she set a handful out on the table. "The chips are down." She declared, and Duke rolled his eyes.

"The worms are down."

"Whatever. Are you going to fold yet?"

"Not a chance. I'm calling it." Duke declared, setting out his cards. Jean laughed and threw hers down on the table.

"Full House!" She cried, swiping up a gummy worm.

"What? Remind me to never play poker for real with you!" Duke complained, taking up the cards.

"Pay up, Crocker." Jean crowed, eating the worm.

"How are we supposed to know who's winning if you eat the chips?" Duke asked, and Jean stopped, half a gummy worm left.

"I guess I'll have to get another one then." She shrugged, snatching a whole one from the centre of the table. Duke protested, but let her.

"Ok, well, let's see… something about me… I don't like hockey." He offered, and Jean raised an eyebrow, gesturing at him with the half eaten gummy worm.

"You don't like hockey? How can you not like hockey?"

"Hey, it's some people's thing; it's not mine." He shrugged, holding his hands up. "I thought you were from Nebraska, not Canada."

"Shut up." Jean rolled her eyes, taking the offered cards. "You gonna fold?"

"You wish."

"I think you wish. That you had folded."

"Cheeky little rascal, aren't you?"

"You know it. Are you gonna fold yet?"

"Uh, let me think about it…no." Duke smirked, throwing down his hand. "Three of a kind!"

"A pair of sixes." Jean pouted, setting hers down as well.

"In your face, Crocker!" Duke shouted back at her, grabbing a worm.

"Fine. Well, um, I'm allergic to celery, so don't feed me any, ok?"

"Wait, celery? Is that even possible?" Duke asked, and Jean rolled her eyes.

"Obviously." She gestured to herself. "My throat swells up and I asphyxiate. Not a pretty sight."

"Noted." Duke nodded, dealing her a new hand.

By the time they finished the game, Duke had learned that Jean could sew, couldn't cook to save her life, her favourite food was American buttermilk biscuits (with butter), she liked to read, and got good at playing football with the guys at the orphanage. He also learned that Nebraskans are very proud of their football.

Jean, on the other hand, learned that her father hated vegetables, plays the ukulele, doesn't like bananas, likes Lord of the Rings, and believes in Bigfoot. Or so he said.

They would have played longer, but Jean ate the gummy worms.

"So, uh, school tomorrow. You nervous?" Duke asked, and Jean nodded.

"Heck yeah!" She cried. "Teach me how to survive public schooling, O Great One!"

"Hmm… O Great One… I like the sound of that." Duke replied, stroking his chin mockingly. "Well, fine then. First rule is no one is cool in high school. Got it? No one. So don't try to fit in, because you're going to look back at yourself when you're 23 and say 'man, I was so not cool.' So you might as well have fun being not cool."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Jean rolled her eyes.

"No problem. You know all the basics, right? Like, when the bell rings you go to class?"

"I didn't live under a rock." Jean sighed.

"Sure you didn't. Anyway, I already registered you for your classes. Miss Felighs from the orphanage sent me your transcripts, and Audrey helped me pick everything out for you."

"She put me in remedial maths, didn't she?"

"No, actually you're right on track. She recommended honours English, though. You can transfer out if you don't like it. Scott could probably show you the ropes at school better than I could- I've been out of Haven High for a while- but if you need anything, come to me, ok? Oh, don't get in fights too much. They expel you for that kind of stuff. I think I have an extra backpack around here somewhere. I can get all your school stuff set up for you."

"Thanks Duke." Jean sighed, leaning back in her chair to look at the stars. "You said you like Lord of the Rings. What is that?"

"You've never heard of Lord of The Rings?" Duke asked, shocked. "What did you learn at school?"

"Er… Reading, writing, and arithmetic?" Jean raised an eyebrow. "So what is it?"

"Only the best movie series ever." Duke declared, leaning back. "I think there's a book seireis too, but I don't read, so I don't really know."

"You don't read?"

"I mean, I can, I just don't like to." Duke clearified, seeing the look on Jean's face. "But anyway, it's this great trilogy about a ring and a hobbit- well, lots of hobbits, really- and a Gollum… I actually faced a golem once, with Audrey. It tried to kill me. It wasn't really like the one from Lord of the Rings, though. It was more like a plastic female Terminator."

"Terminator?" Jean questioned, and Duke gasped.

"You've got a lot to learn, kid. You've got a lot to learn."

Jean smiled to herself, hugging Sadie to her chest.

"I've got time."


	5. Chapter 5

**Duke here. For the record, you guys, Jean's wrong. Downright wrong. I'm not near as mushy and fatherly and cutesy as she makes me out to be. That's Nathan's place. So don't listen to anything she says, got it?**

**Man, that sounded desperate.**

**Yes, Duke, yes it did. Jean here- the rightful author of her own story. And I'm telling you guys, I'm never wrong. Ever. So don't listen to Duke here. He's just trying to protect his ego.**

**Moving on, you guys didn't really have any questions for me, so I don't really have any replying to do. But shout out to Doks and KK161990, who gave me their feedback! You lot are brill!**

**I own my life,not the show. And they may or may not have royalties on me- not too sure about that…**

Duke looked in the door at the sleeping girl with a smile on his face. When he'd first woke up, it had scared him to find someone asleep in his guest room- he didn't remember bringing a woman home, and if he did, why wasn't she sleeping in his room? But then he remembered.

He had a daughter. Jean. The girl from Nebraska who loved football and was allergic to celery. The girl who devoured classic novels like he devoured pizza, yet didn't know what Lord of the Rings was. She'd come to live with him, and didn't seem to mind his lack of parenting skills.

The clock he'd set on her nightstand flipped over to 6:00, blaring loudly. Jean sat up groggily and slammed her hand down on the alarm, accidentally knocking it to the floor, as Duke slipped out the door, unnoticed. She flailed around desperately, trying to catch the clock, but it slipped through her fingers and crashed to the ground with a jarring sound. Jean clambered out of bed and reset the clock on the table before turning to the wardrobe with a groan.

"School." She mumbled, surveying her clothes. She only owned one dress, so that made dressing for today fairly simple.

Jean ended up dressed in her white spaghetti strap dress, a jean jacket over top, and a pair of brown leather cowboy boots. She let her charcoal black hair out of its ponytail, and smiled at herself. She didn't look like a dirt poor orphan- she looked normal. A bit country, but normal.

"Morning, Duke." She called, coming into the galley. He tossed her a pear, but she threw it back. "I hate pears. Pears are evil."

"Good to know." Duke replied, tossing an apple at her. She caught it and took a bite. "What're you all dolled up for?"

"School?" Jean shrugged. "Got to make a good impression."

"You'll kill 'em, kid. Not literally though."

"Of course I will. I'm your kid." Jean laughed, and Duke handed her his backpack. He'd never admit it, but he was up for hours last night trying to find his old school supplies.

"That you are." Duke smirked, and then nodded towards the bag. "Some of that stuffs ten years old, but it should all still work." She accepted it gratefully.

"Thanks. Are you going to take me to school?" Jean asked, and Duke rolled his eyes.

"As if, kid. You're walking."

"Oh. Well, can you tell me how to get there?" Duke raised an eyebrow.

"I was joking, Jean." He laughed, grabbing his keys. "You ready?"

"Heck no. Let's do this." Jean added, slinging her father's old backpack over her shoulder.

"Allons-y." Duke called, and Jean shot him a look. "What? It's French."

"I don't speak French." Jean rolled her eyes. "I speak American."

"English?"

"American."

"Whatever, Jean. Let's go." She nodded and followed him off the boat, watching as he rechecked the knot mooring them at the harbour. "I'll teach you to do that later this week. That's the main thing you need to know."

"Alright." Jean nodded. "Do you think they'll make fun of me because of my accent?" Duke opened the door to the car, and turned to her.

"Hardly. It'll be a novelty. If anything, everyone will love you, with all your southern charm." Duke shrugged.

"What the heck?" Jean laughed. "That was the cheesiest thing you could say."

"But it worked." Duke shrugged. "You laughed." Jean got in the car and buckled her seatbelt as Duke started the engine.

"What if I'm behind? What if I don't know anything they're doing?" She worried, and Duke laughed.

"Jean, you're smarter than I am, as far as I can tell. And if I made it through Haven High ok, then so will you. Just don't go around telling anyone two plus two is fish." He pleaded, and Jean laughed.

"It is, though!" She insisted. "If you turn the twos sideways."

"I'm not even going to argue with you. Here's a key card to the marina, by the way." He added, passing it to her. "I'll have to get you an official one within 60 days, I think it is, but for now you can just use my guest pass." He pulled through the gate and onto the main roads of Haven, and Jean accepted the card he handed her, sliding it in her wallet.

"That's a beat up wallet." Duke commented, glancing at the torn leather. At least it'd be easy to go Christmas shopping for her.

"It was Roger's." Jean explained. "I think it's older than I am."

So maybe he wouldn't buy her a new wallet. He didn't want to replace Roger, after all.

He pulled the truck up to the front of Haven High, wincing as he remembered all his years back there. Jean was in for a real treat. Cue the sarcasm…

"I guess this is it then." Jean whispered nervously, unbuckling. He got out of the car and walked around, opening the door for her.

"Chin up, kiddo." He declared, hugging her. "I didn't get to walk you to your first day of kindergarten, but I guess tenth grade is close enough."

"It basically is kindergarten." Jean replied. "Having never gone to school before."

"Well, I guess you're the world's smartest kindergartener, then. Good luck, kid. Tell me all about it when you get home. And be sure to say y'all a lot. That'll knock these Mainers off their feet."

"Will do." Jean laughed. It wasn't like she didn't already say y'all…

She slung his backpack over her shoulder and made her way to the front gate, waving to Duke. She could already hear the other students whispering around her, and she couldn't help but catch snippets of 'Duke' 'kid' 'mom' and the like. They were talking about her.

When Duke had registered her for her classes, they'd provided him with a map of the school as well. She stared at it, trying to find her way to first period, when the bell sounded loudly.

"Oh, great, I'm late my first day." She groaned.

"Where were you raised, a barn?" A girl passing by her asked. "That was only the first bell."

"Wait, what's the difference?" Jean asked, but the girl was long gone in the sea of kids. Jean's eyes widened as teenager after teenager pushed their way past her, in a hurry to reach their classrooms on time. She didn't think she'd ever seen this many people… ever. And Haven was supposed to be a small town, with only one high school.

Man, she'd lived a sheltered life.

She found her classroom before the bell rang, thankfully, but realized once she walked in the door that she had no idea where to sit. The teacher saved her, of course, pulling her up to her desk.

"Are you Jean?" the teacher asked in a hushed tone, and Jean nodded politely.

"Yes ma'am." She replied, checking her schedule. "And are you Ms Anderson?"

"That I am." The teacher replied. "You're in the right place."

Once the kids had all filed into the class, Ms Anderson stood up and faced them.

"Class, I'm sure you've noticed we have a new face today. This is Jean Mitchell. Jean, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Um… it's Crocker, actually." Jean corrected. A few weeks too early couldn't hurt. It'd make the transition to her new name easier, at any rate.

"Really? But it says here…" Ms Anderson frowned, checking her files on the girl.

"Mitchell is my middle name." Jean explained. "Like Michelle? Except its Mitchel."

"Well, my records must be wrong, I suppose." Ms Anderson allowed. "Well, go on."

Jean was forced to run through the stereotypical new kid speech, and it wasn't any less cliché than in the films.

"Well, my name's Jean Crocker. Um, I'm from Nebraska. I was raised on a farm for most of my life. I love football, and I look forward to getting to know y'all." She concluded, but a boy in the back row raised his hand. She looked at Ms Anderson, and the teacher shrugged and called on him.

"Is it true that you're Duke Crocker's bastard kid?" The boy asked, and Ms Anderson gasped, shocked. She admonished her student whilst Jean glared.

"I'm Duke's daughter, and he's my father. That's about all there is to it." Jean stated simply.

"Then why were you living in Nebraska all these years, huh?" A girl called out. "Was your daddy ashamed of you?"

"Who's your mom, anyway?" Somebody else yelled. Jean stared them all down defiantly, head held high.

"That's enough!" Ms Anderson called out, and the classroom quieted down. "I expect you all to treat Jean with the utmost respect, do you hear me?"

A chorus of noncommittal grunts sounded out, and Ms Anderson turned back to Jean.

"I'm really sorry about that, Jean. Go ahead and take a seat next to Theresa. Theresa? Could you raise your hand?"

Jean made her way to the back of the room, where a brunette girl waved at her.

"You can call me Tessie. Everyone does." The girl whispered, and Jean smiled, relieved to have found at least one friendly person.

"Jean. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Tessie replied, and the two girls turned their attention back to the lesson. It turned out that they were studying the Grapes of Wrath, by Steinbeck, one of the books Jean owned and knew by heart. She didn't have much catching up to do there.

The bell rang, and Jean looked up, confused.

"Is that the second bell, or the first bell?" She asked, trying to keep them straight.

"Well, fourth, actually. There's the ten minutes before class starts bell, the five minutes before class starts bell, the class is starting now bell, and that was just the class is over bell. You've got five minutes to get to your next class before the bell rings again." Tessie explained. "What, have you never been to school before?"

"Well, no." Jean shrugged, gathering up her books. The girl she'd run into in the hallway turned to her with a laugh.

"Oh my God, you've never been to school before? What a loser." She appraised Jean, looking her up and down indifferently. "What, did Duke keep you locked up in a closet or something?"

"I moved here from Nebraska." Jean re-iterated, rolling her eyes. "And I was home-schooled."

"Wow." The girl replied, drawing the one syllable out to show how unimpressed she was. "And the worst parent of the year award goes to…"

Tessie opened her mouth to say something, but the girl immediately zoned in on her.

"What, you got something to say, Timid Theresa? Huh? I can't hear you. Speak up."

"Shove off." Jean interrupted, and the girl turned her attention back to her.

"Look here, Crockerette. This school had a good reputation before you got here, and I like it that way. So you just keep your criminal ways to yourself, and let me rule the school, got it?"

"I'm not a criminal!" Jean protested, and the girl rolled her eyes.

"Of course you're not, Crock-pot. Come on, Tiffany." She called, leaving. Jean turned back to Tessie.

"Some people." She rolled her eyes.

Except it was most people. Every class she went to, people kept picking on her, judging her because of her father, trying to get out of her who her mother was, judging her father for having abandoned her for 15 years. And she didn't get it. Duke was her father, if she understood his reasoning and loved him anyway, why should anyone else care about it?

By the time lunchtime rolled around, she was about so fed up with these small town kids that she could hurl. It was never like this back in the orphanage! No one asked you pressing questions that you didn't want to answer, and people didn't pick on each other mercilessly like this! You got mad at someone else, you punched them in the face, they hit you back, and you were good. Best friends like that.

Jean scanned the cafeteria for Tessie, but couldn't find her anywhere. She genuinely liked Tessie- she was a bit quiet, too shy to stand up for herself, but she was kind and didn't call Jean names. She finally settled on sitting alone, deciding that Tessie must not have the same lunch as her.

A lunch tray hit the table across form her, and Jean looked up, alarmed. It was Roxanne and her entourage. Tiffany sat down beside her, and Jean looked at her warily.

"So, Crock-pot, how's your first day going?" Roxanne asked in a tone that said she didn't really care.

"Better, now that you're here." Jean replied in a false cheery voice, and Roxanne rolled her eyes.

"Childish." She declared. "So are you ever going to tell us who your mom is?"

"It doesn't matter who my momma is." Jean repeated, as she had all day. Protecting Beady was seriously exhausting work. "I live with Duke."

"Yeah, now. Was your mom in Nebraska? Did she just decide she didn't want you and ship you off to your good-for-nothing father? My money's on that."

"Why do y'all care, anyway?" Jean asked, balling up her fists.

"I just want to know who the sleazy prostitute your worthless father knocked up was." Roxanne smirked.

Except she didn't say prostitute.

Jean slammed her fist into Roxanne's smirking face, and the cafeteria suddenly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. She grabbed Duke's backpack and stood up hastily.

"Anyone ever tell you not to stick your finger down the barrel of a loaded gun?" Jean drawled, and then left the cafeteria quickly.

And that was how she scored a detention the first day of school.

"Haven PD, this is Officer Parker speaking, how can I help you?"

"Hey, um, Audrey? It's me, Jean." Jean sighed, twirling the phone cable in the office. The secretary watched her anxiously after she dialled the police station, and then turned her attention back to the glamour magazine she was reading.

"Jean! What can I do you for?" Audrey asked, and Jean winced.

"You can never say that again." Jean declared, and Audrey laughed.

"Deal. Let's just pretend that never came out of my mouth. So what's up?"

"Um, can I get a ride back to the marina? Duke never came to pick me up." Jean asked nervously, and Audrey swore. "I'm really sorry!"

"No, no, not you Jean, you're fine." Audrey rushed off. "Damn it, Duke, I thought you were going to do a better job than this."

"I'm sure he's doing the best he can." Jean amended, and the secretary looked up at her with sympathy. Poor little Jean Crocker, has to put up with a screw up for a dad.

"I'm sure he is." Audrey sighed. "I just assumed he would do better than to forget his daughter on her first day of school."

"He didn't forget to take me this morning." Jean defended, and Audrey agreed.

"Wait, Jean, the high school got out an hour ago. You waited that long to call me?"

"No… I…er… kinda got detention." Jean rushed out, and Audrey sighed again.

"Why?"

"I punched a girl."

"Why?"

"She was picking on me all day, Audrey! I tried to be nice, I tried to ignore her, I tried talking back to her, and nothing worked. And then she went and said some really mean things about Duke and my mom, and I couldn't help it. I took a swing at her."

Audrey said nothing, but she sighed, yet again on the other end of the line. There was a long pause of silence.

"Audrey?"

"Yeah, hang on. I'm going to send Nathan out to take you to the marina." Audrey said. "And Jean? You will tell Duke about this."

"I know." Jean sighed. "Thanks Audrey."

"You're welcome. Bye Jean."

"Bye Audrey."

She waited alone out in front of the school until Nathan's Bronco pulled up in the parking lot. She opened the door and climbed in.

"Thanks, Mr Wuornos." She declared, bucking her seatbelt.

"Nathan." He corrected. "What's this I hear about you getting detention?"

"I'm not sorry." Jean replied, adamant. "Well, I mean, I'm sorry that you guys are disappointed in me, but I'm not sorry I hit her."

"Small town life is tough." Nathan shrugged. "People trying to get into your business. What set you off?"

"She called Duke a worthless good-for-nothing screw up, and said my mom was sleazy for sleeping with him." Jean stated bluntly. "Among other things."

"Oh."

"Nathan, they treat me like a criminal. Like I'm just going to go ape and murder them all. Duke's really not that bad, right? He's never killed anyone or anything?"

Nathan was silent for a long time.

"Nathan?"

"You'll have to talk that over with Duke." He finally stated, but turned to her. "As much as it kills me to say this, Duke is my friend, Jean. Probably my best friend. And if your dad's best friends with a cop, you know he's ok."

"Unless you're a crooked cop." Jean joked, and Nathan smiled.

"But I'm not. Look, Duke is a good person overall. I know you know that, Jean. But a lot of the people here just can't get over his reputation. He drinks, gambles, parties, may or may not be involved in illicit business, and in a small town like Haven, that's about the worst you're going to get. So in the eyes of the people here, you're like Al Capone's kid or something."

"Why don't you take Duke in?" Jean asked. "If he's doing illegal things."

"Honestly, I don't know if he even knows whether or not he's abiding the law. He delivers boxes. The stuff in them may or may not be illegal. He doesn't ask, and neither do we. As far as we're concerned, your father is just a delivery boy. We can't take him in without evidence that he's transporting illegal goods, and our station's just too busy to try and find any evidence. It's not our top priority." He gave her a look that said it would _never_ be their top priority.

"Am I going to be arrested for assault now?" Jean asked, and Nathan laughed.

"Not a chance, kid. Just… try not to give them any more ammo against you. Lay low and don't go around punching people."

"I'll try." Jean nodded.

"Try not. Do." Nathan quoted, and Jean tipped her head. "Man, Duke said you understood literally nothing of pop culture. We'll have to work on that. And I'll leave it up to Duke to do the whole parenting thing, so you're not grounded. Yet. Do you have your key card?"

Jean nodded, pulling out the card and getting out of Nathan's truck.

"Yeah. Thanks for taking me home, Nathan. I'll do better, I promise."

"I know you will, Crocker. Go home and get grounded."

"Yes, Officer." Jean rolled her eyes and waved, sliding the marina pass and walking through the gate. Duke's boat was on the east side of the marina.

She made her way down the piers, searching for a familiar landmark, when she spotted Duke's boat. She boarded it carefully; checking the knot like Duke had that morning, and then searched around for Duke. She heard raised voices coming from the state room, and went to investigate. She opened the door to find Duke sitting in a chair, his hands behind his back. Several other men were crowded around him, and they looked up when she walked in. They began speaking rapidly in some foreign language, gesturing from her to Duke and back again with a gun. Duke argued back in the same language, but before she knew it, one of them had her arms pulled back behind her and the muzzle of a gun pressed up against her head.

"Oh, hey Jean." Duke declared wearily in English. "I forgot to ask you if you could stay at the Wuornos place after school today until, like, seven. I've got some business meetings to attend."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys. It's Duke.**

**This really isn't my finest moment, ok? If Jean and I could leave this out of our autobiography, I would in a heartbeat. But it's kind of crucial in getting to where we are today, so I can't.**

**I'm not a bad guy. I just make dumb mistakes. And Buddha was really smiling down on me when he gave me a kid like Jean.**

**Don't doubt that I love her, ok? I love Jean more than anyone in the world. I never meant for this to happen.**

**Don't think too poorly of me.**

**Gee Wilikers, Duke, way to sound dramatic! He didn't get me killed off or anything, y'all. Otherwise I wouldn't have been here to write our autobiography! But yeah, what he said. Please don't judge him for this! Duke's my dad, and I love him, no matter how many stupid mistakes he makes.**

**Thanks to STforRK, KK161990 and Doks for reviewing. Y'all are the best! Quick question, do any of y'all actually read these a/n? Or are Duke and I just talking to empty space? Because we can stop and just cut to the story, if y'all want us too. Just let us know.**

**I don't own that show on Syfy, but they might possibly own me…**

"Duke? What's going on?" Jean asked, her voice quivering, as they were left alone at last. She'd been tied down to a chair next to her father to assure that neither of them would escape.

"Uh… nothing to worry about. Just a little… business deal gone south." Duke replied.

"Yeah, nothing to worry about." Jean rolled her eyes. "Duke, I may just be a home-schooled sucker from Nebraska, but even I can tell it's something to worry about when we've got our hands tied behind our backs, and they've had guns trained on us for the past hour."

"They really don't like me." Duke shrugged awkwardly. Jean raised an eyebrow.

"I would have never guessed." She declared dryly, pulling at the knots around her wrist.

"So, how was school?" He asked, and Jean snorted.

"I got detention, and had to call Audrey to get a ride home. And the bell system really confused me. There are way more bells in real life then were on T.V."

"You got detention?"

"We're being held hostage on your own boat, and that's what you fixate on?" Jean asked, raising an eyebrow. Duke turned to look at her.

"You're my kid. It's my job."

"You forgot me at school."

"I was tied up!" Duke cried, and then nodded behind him, towards his hands. "Literally."

"Yeah, kinda wasn't expecting to walk into that." Jean replied, biting her lip. "What do we do?"

"Just leave it to me. This kind of thing happens a lot."

"So should I invest in my own .9mm?" Jean asked, and Duke laughed.

"Kid, you're not allowed to own one of those until you're twenty-one. I'll teach you to shoot one of mine, though. Apparently it might come in handy."

"Yeah, apparently." Jean snorted.

"Quit changing the subject. Why'd you get detention?"

"Because I punched a girl." Jean answered, and Duke sighed.

"Jean, what did I tell you about public school? Huh? What was my number one rule?"

"Uh… nobody's cool in high school?"

"Ok, then, number two rule?"

"Don't try to fit in?"

"Ok, fine then, what's the number three rule?"

"Um… get Scott to help me out?"

"Really? Man, I suck at this. Wasn't there a 'no fighting' thing there somewhere?" Duke asked, furrowing his brow. Jean thought a moment, before her eyes lit up.

"Yeah! I think it was number six. Don't fight too much or you'll get expelled. But I only punched her once."

"Ok, we need to get this list rearranged. Rule one: no fighting. You broke rule number one Jean. I'm very disappointed in you."

"I'm not sorry." Jean replied, and Duke looked proud, despite the fact that he was trying to reprimand her.

"Why'd you hit her, anyway? Who was it?"

"Uh… Roxanne. She… antagonized me."

"Campbell? Yeah, ran into that piece of work around town. I don't blame you for hauling off on her. But you still shouldn't have done it. They expect you to be a troublemaker like me, and you're going to have to work really hard to raise their expectations. And that means that you have to be twice as perfect as you already are. I'm sorry about that, Jean."

"What if I don't care about their expectations?" Jean asked, and Duke smiled, unable to keep the pride off his face.

"That's good. But I still don't want you ending up like me. The only reason I'm not in jail right now is because I saved Audrey Parker's life her first day in Haven. If I hadn't ended up befriending her, well, then, you would have never existed."

"But that's a good thing, right? Because then you wouldn't have almost died."

"Jean, I would have almost died a thousand times over if it meant I could keep you. I regret nothing." Duke declared aloud, and Jean smiled, tentatively setting her head down on her father's shoulder.

The men burst back in the door, waving their guns and shouting angrily. Jean looked over at Duke in wide eyed fear, but he found her hands somehow, through all the bindings, and squeezed them reassuringly.

"I'll get us out of here." He whispered to her, turning his attention back to the men. "Hello, father daughter bonding moment here. Do you mind?"

Evidently, they didn't mind too much. One of the men snatched up Jean, one fist tangled in her hair, and the other pressing the cold muzzle of the gun back against her head. Duke began to speak in the same foreign language as before, but Jean still couldn't place it. It wasn't Russian… but then what was it?

White hot pain surged through her face, and it took Jean a minute to realize that she'd been pistol-whipped. She turned her head so that Duke couldn't see very well and spit out a glob of blood.

"Jean!" Duke yelled, fighting against his bonds. He started arguing louder, but the man holding her just laughed.

BAM! Jean doubled over in pain as she took a blow to the stomach. Duke was staring at her desperately, pleading in whatever language it was, to no avail. She forced herself to stand up straight and stare back defiantly at her captors. No sense in making her father worry more than he already was.

Finally something Duke said seemed to strike a chord with the men. One of them let Duke up, and another quickly left the room. They didn't let Jean go, though.

The man holding Jean moved his gun from the back of Jean's head to levelling it at Duke, and Jean's heart sped up. Without thinking, she slammed her elbow back into his gut, kicking her knee up at the same time to knock away the gun. Duke scampered closer, grabbing the gun and holding it to Jean's captor as the man tightened his hold on her, making her cry out in pain. The three of them stared at each other, until the man who had left earlier came running back in with a box. The man holding Jean shoved her forward roughly, and Duke dropped the gun in order to catch his daughter. The group of men left Duke's boat, and he turned Jean to face him, assessing the damage.

"Jean, are you ok?" He asked, looking her over. "I'm going to kill them; I swear I'm going to kill them."

"I don't think that'll help anything." Jean replied coolly, taking a seat. "What did they want?"

"A box. The one they got. And it wasn't mine to give away."

"You just gave it up?" Jean asked, shocked, and Duke stared at her dumbly.

"They were going to kill you!" He cried. "Hell, I'd give them the Cape Rouge if that's what they wanted."

"I'm sorry." Jean looked down at the wooden flooring, and Duke looked at her, confused.

"Jean, if it's anyone who should be sorry, it's me. I put you in a whole lot of danger today. You could've been killed."

"I'm fine." Jean shrugged, and Duke came up behind her, untying her bonds.

"No, you're not." He insisted. "You're bleeding. He held a gun to your head, for God's sake, Jean! Twice!"

"I thought you were Buddhist." Jean muttered, as he got out his first aid kit.

"Not the point. I'm sorry, Jean. I'm so sorry. I didn't expect to be a great dad or anything, but I didn't expect to get you held hostage on your first full day." He dabbed at her bleeding cheek with an alcohol wipe, pausing when she winced. "Sorry."

"Duke, back in Nebraska, we did all our arguing with our fists." Jean shrugged. "I've had worse."

"But you won't anymore. Not ever again. Jean, I'm gonna teach you to protect yourself. Get you enrolled in some self-defence classes or something. Train you in weaponry. Hire you a body guard, if that's what it takes. But Jean, no one's ever going to hurt you again, you hear? Not on my watch."

"Ok." Jean replied cheerily, and that was that. Duke finished cleaning her wound up in silence, attaching a clean white gauze bandage and taping it on.

How could she forgive him so easily? He wouldn't forgive himself. Ever. First thing tomorrow, he'd get her a mobile phone of her own, so he could be in contact with her at all times. So he could make sure she was ok.

He'd also get new locks. And look into that body guard.

He thought about the Wuornos/Parker family. Saint Nathan and Audrey, and their little goody two shoes son Scott. He liked Audrey. Heck, sometimes he even liked Nathan. And their kid wasn't so bad either.

It wasn't fair, he thought, that Scott Wuornos got to grow up knowing his dad; that Scott Wuornos could come home safely every night. It wasn't like they didn't have their share of troubles- both his parents were police officers, for Pete's sake! But people in the town liked the Wuornos'. Scott wasn't put through the same crap that Jean was. It just wasn't fair!

But then again, that was partly his fault. Sure he hadn't seen negotiations going south like that. And yeah, he'd turned back to smuggling because he couldn't support another person on the restaurant salary alone, but there had to have been some way to warn her not to come home yet.

"Duke? Are you mad at me?" Jean asked quietly, while he packed up his supplies.

"No. Not at all. I actually couldn't be more proud- you really kept your cool back there. I'm furious at myself for getting you into that situation, but I'm not mad at you. Can you lie down? I want to check you for any organ damage."

"Jeeze, Duke, I only took one hit to the stomach." Jean sighed, but did as he asked.

"Yeah, and you could have internal injuries." He argued, pressing lightly on her stomach. "Does that hurt?"

"I think it's bruised, so yeah, but no more than normal." Jean replied, staring at the ceiling.

"Good. How about this?"

"No."

"Here?"

"No."

"And here?"

"No."

"Good. Very good. Are you having any trouble breathing? Any dizziness, or shortness of breath?"

"Since when did you become a doctor?" Jean laughed, and Duke frowned.

"Just answer the question, Jean."

"No. I'm fine."

"Ok, well you don't have any swelling in your abdomen. I think you're ok. No internal damage." Duke declared, and Jean sat up, straightening her shirt.

"Good to know, Doctor Duke." Jean rolled her eyes. "But even if I did, I'd be fine. Did you forget my Trouble? I heal. I should be back to normal in one day's time. Two tops. It takes longer to heal myself than other people. "

"So… other than this whole fiasco, how was your day?" Duke asked, as they exited the state room. Neither of them wanted to stay in there for too long after what had happened. Jean followed Duke to the galley instead, where he dug through the cabinets for a celery free snack.

"Not too good. Kids suck."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Duke stated, handing her a block of cheese. "You're not too bad."

"Yeah, well." Jean shrugged. "They wouldn't leave me alone about you, and Beady, and me being illegitimate and all."

"This is the twenty first century, right?" Duke scoffed, setting out a plate of crackers. "I'm sorry, Jean. Haven's kind of trapped in another century. Figuratively, of course. But that's how it goes in small towns. All those little prejudices everyone else has grown out of, our residents just can't seem to let go."

"It's ok. I'm not really used to having friends anyway." Jean shrugged, and Duke's heart broke. Something needed to change in Jean's life, and stat.

"Wasn't there anyone who was nice to you?" he asked, hoping beyond hope. Of all the cards in the deck, life had really dealt Jean a hand. What had she ever done to deserve such a screwy life?

"Oh, yeah, there was one girl. Her name's Tessie. She was really sweet." Jean smiled, and Duke sighed in relief.

"Tessa Callahan? Claire's niece?"

"About two inches taller than me, brown hair, blue eyes." Jean described, and Duke nodded.

"That's Claire's Tessie alright."

"Is it Tessa or Tessie? Because she introduced herself as Tessie."

"Oh, it's both. Whatever comes out of your mouth first. Just don't call her Theresa, she hates that. Says it's too grown up."

"How do you know all these kids, anyway?" Jean asked, stuffing her face with a cheese cracker. She winced as the salt from the cracker rubbed in her wounded cheek.

"I just know Tessa because I know her mom. Claire's Audrey's therapist."

"Audrey has a therapist?"

"In a town like Haven, everyone needs a therapist. But I think Claire's more than that. She's the girl friend that Audrey really needed. Running around with the guys is all well and good, but Audrey really needed a girl to hang out with too." Duke shrugged, looking pointedly at Jean. He knew for a fact that she was just one of the guys back in Nebraska, and he wanted her to have some kind of female friends, since he couldn't give her a mother.

"I get it. You want me to make friends with Tessie." Jean laughed. "It won't be too hard. She's the only kid who's said a kind word to me all day."

"What about the Wuornos kid?" Duke asked, and Jean shrugged.

"Didn't see him."

"Huh. Do you have any homework?"

"No. But I need some new notebooks." She replied, glancing over at Duke's bag.

"Wait, why?"

"Because the ones you gave me are filled with biology notes from the 1990's. And a bunch of notes I really didn't need to know about a, er, Vanessa Stanley."

"Erm… right. We'll take you school shopping then." Duke replied, snatching the notebook from her and throwing it in the dust bin. "I was fifteen!" He cried defensively.

"I'm fifteen." Jean rolled her eyes.

"I was a fifteen year old boy." Duke clarified, and Jean snorted.

"Whatever, Duke."

"Do you have any other jackets?" Duke added, and Jean shook her head. "Are you kidding me, Jean? You're in Maine in the middle of winter, and you only have a jean jacket?"

"Yeah. Get it? Jean Jacket? And my name's Jean?"

"Audrey's going to have to take you clothes shopping." Duke rolled his eyes. "And while you're waiting, you can borrow some of my coats. It's too cold out there to be wearing that flimsy jacket."

"It'll be too big." Jean pointed out, but Duke shook his head.

"No point in arguing. You're new to Maine. It's better to wear a coat that's too big than to die of hypothermia. Or frostbite."

"Hey, it gets cold in Nebraska too." Jean defended, sticking her tongue out at her father. He raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever, Farmer Jean. Come on, I'll take you to the station; see if we can get Audrey to take you shopping. Get you two some god-mother/daughter bonding time."

"What are you going to do?" Jean asked, and Duke glanced at her in a rare moment of seriousness.

"I'm going to be making my boat Mafia-proof."


	7. Chapter 7

**Jean never found out what happened while she was out with Audrey. I mean, she will if she reads this, which, yeah, she's gonna wonder where the new chapter came from and read it (Hi Jean!), so I've got a lot of secret spilling to do. So here's the run down…**

**I'm gonna do my best for review replying. That's usually Jean's job, but hey, I'm a people person! I got this in the bag…**

**STforRK: I'm glad the a/n's are helpful. This is more Jean's territory, since she mostly writes them, but I'm sure she appreciates it. And I'm glad you think I'm a good dad. Do you know how many times Wuornos told me I was a sucky father? But, you know, he just hated me in general…**

**Doks: You're right. I wasn't really prepared for Jean to come into my life- I rushed down to Nebraska and picked her up the second I was able, and never looked ahead. I am really lucky to have a kid like Jean. And as for the rest of it, well, remember the show you're watching now took place more than eighteen years ago, when Jean was just a little baby. A lot changed in that time. I fell in with an even worse crowd, and some people found out about Jean- they were awfully upset I abandoned her. I couldn't really explain to the non-troubled people… I made a lot of enemies in those years, but I made some close friends too. And don't worry about the grammar thing. Jean and I don't really have the best English skills. Well, I guess she does, being in honours English and all, but my point is neither of us really cares about grammar…**

**KK161990: Yeah, Jean found it kind of weird to. Something about more pressing matters? But hey, I've been tied up before- no big. But my kid getting detention? Way more important! And thanks for your input on the a/n.**

**NightSign: Hey! I don't forget things! What are you talking about? I'll have you know I'm a perfectly responsible person! But I'm glad you added it to your alerts, if you're the forgetful type. Which I'm not. But…er… I can't remember the rest of your review, so… uh… I DON'T FORGET!**

**Ok, guys, I'm not as good an author/linguist or whatever person as Jean. I didn't take honours English, and I can't tell you what a gerund is. But bear with me anyway, because Jean can't really write what she doesn't know…**

Duke sighed, staring at the mess of a boat his invaders had left behind. The Russians were really going to hate him once he explained that the box he was asked to deliver got stolen. By unknown people. But he'd deal with that when he came to it.

He locked up the Cape Rouge, deciding to clean up later, and headed out to his truck, sighing as he looked her over. She was a mess- old, broken down, decrepit, but she still ran. That was all that mattered, right? He opened the door and started her engine, pulling out of the marina.

He was in over his head this time. Time to consult the professionals.

He put her in park, staring up at the police station and trying to find a good way to phrase it, a way that wouldn't end up getting killed.

Hey, ol' buddy, ol' pal! Guess who I almost got killed today? Your favourite god-daughter!

He finally got out of the truck, locking her up tight, and entering the police station. He was such a permanent fixture there that Stan didn't even bother to look up when he walked in.

"Wuornos!" he called, entering Nathan's office. The chief of police looked up at him

"Audrey's out right now." He stated simply, going back to the file he was pouring over. "She's out shopping with your daughter."

"I'm not here for Audrey, Wuornos. I'm here for you. I need your help." Nathan looked up and closed the manila folder.

"You need my help?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, what is it?"

"I need to be able to protect Jean. I had some visitors stop by today who weren't exactly invited. Is there any chance you could keep an eye out for her, when you can?"

Nathan stood up slowly, giving Duke the stink-eye. He moved out from behind his desk, and looked Duke square in the eye.

"Explain."

And so Duke did, leaving nothing out. He cringed when he got to the part about Jean's attack, and looked up, surveying Nathan's face. He was angry- that much was evident. He pursed his lips tightly, and his eyes flashed dangerously. Duke proceeded cautiously, looking up onto Nathan's stony face as he concluded.

Nathan sighed, staring at him in silence for a moment. He turned back to head to his desk, and then turned around and slugged Duke.

"Hey!" Duke cried, holding his face.

"You brought her here, Duke. You promised you'd be ready to care for her, that she'd be safe and you'd keep her out of your backwards business. It's only been a day you've had her, Duke. One day! And she's already landed a detention and gotten held hostage. I would have never helped you find her if I knew this is what would happen." Nathan snapped, and Duke glared at him.

"Jean doesn't hold it against me. She knew what she was getting into when she agreed to come home. And I don't even know who those men were! I couldn't have prevented it. I just need to be able to protect her from anyone else who comes along." He defended.

Nathan sighed, and chewed his lip. "Tell me what, exactly, we need to be on the lookout for."

"The Russian Mafia." Duke stated, and Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"Really, Duke? Really?"

"Yes, well, they wouldn't have been a problem before today, but now… The package that those men stole was supposed to be delivered to a guy in St. Petersburg next week. I don't know what was in it, but I know they aren't going to be happy if I don't deliver. And I can't now, because it was stolen."

"Great. Just great. When are Jean and Audrey going to be getting back?" Nathan asked, sitting back down at his desk.

"I don't know. They left an hour ago, I guess."

"So you're telling me now, that I'm going to have to deal with the Mafia as well as the Troubles? Haven is a small town, Duke, we can't deal with this kind of thing. My police force is stretched to the limit as it is."

"I know that." Duke nodded. "And you won't have to deal with them. I will. Just… can you and Audrey take Jean in for a week or so, while I go to St. Petersburg and get this all sorted out? There's no way I'm taking her with me. It's too dangerous, and she needs to stay in school."

Nathan looked up at him slowly, analysing Duke's request.

"I… I can't believe it." Nathan whispered, and Duke raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You're actually acting responsible for once." Duke glared at him, and Nathan continued. "Of course we'll take her in. She can stay in the spare bedroom. But can you guarantee you'll come back? Jean's already lost and found you once; I don't think she could stand to lose you again."

"I'll be fine." Duke nodded. "You guys have nothing to worry about."

Just then Jill, who lived three boats over from Duke, came running into the station, breathing heavily.

"Duke, you need to get down to the marina, now! You should probably come to, Chief. Jean needs you!"

Duke and Nathan wasted no time, even leaving Duke's truck behind as they all loaded up in to the Bronco, and Nathan set the siren on top.

"What's going on, Jill?" Duke asked, breathlessly.

"The Mafia, I think." Jill replied, and Nathan glared at Duke.

"That was fast."

"Must have been in town already. Watching me." Duke sighed. "And they know I gave it up to save Jean." He added, swearing.

"They know she's important to you." Nathan clarified, and Duke nodded.

"Any chance you could drive a little faster?"

"Where's Audrey?" Nathan asked, and Jill shrugged.

"She dropped the girl off about twenty minutes ago. I waved to her when she left. Ed ran out to find her when Jean started yelling."

Duke winced, and Nathan pulled the Bronco up to the marina, swiping Duke's key card. They all abandoned the Bronco, and Nathan noted Audrey's little grey car speeding towards them. So Ed had found her.

He didn't stop to ponder it, instead following Duke towards his boat.

"You can't keep that gun pointed at me forever, sweetheart. Either you shoot, or I get bored and make my move." A tall man standing on the deck of Duke's boat declared. Duke made a quick sweep for Jean, and sighed in relief as he found her, sitting down on the deck, a handgun levelled at the man. She was unharmed.

"I don't need to keep it pointed at you forever. Only until they show up." Jean replied evenly, and the man looked behind him in surprise.

"Hey there." Duke waved. Nathan, apparently in a punching mood, slugged a second person in one day. Jean took the opportunity to launch herself up from the deck and cracked the butt of the gun against his head. The man's eyes rolled backwards, and he collapsed to the deck.

"Oh, hi Aunt Audrey!" Jean called, hugging the older woman as she joined them.

"Hey, nice job there, Jean." Audrey replied, squeezing the girl back. She then moved on to check the man's pulse, leaving Jean to face Duke and Nathan.

"Hey Uncle Nathan. Hey Duke. I know you said to stay away from the Russians, but that guy was pretty insistent. I'm ok though."

"Yeah." Duke replied, turning to Nathan. "I'm thinking I'll leave for St. Petersburg ASAP. If I'm not back in two weeks, send someone after me."

**I'm sorry I'm not quite the author that Jean is. And yeah, this isn't near as long as anything she writes. But I did my best. She'll probably put up her side of the story after Christmas- she's home right now on break. It's great to have her back on the Rouge. Anyway, stay tuned for Jean's next chapter, because I'm sure it'll be better than this one… **

**-Duke**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! It's Jean. Duke told me he wrote a chapter, but I asked him to hang on, because I wanted to write a piece of our first Christmas together. I think he's going to put his up right before mine. Anyway, he said he answered your reviews, so if something's confusing (which I fully expect), just ask me, ok?**

**Anyway, this little piece takes place a little bit after where we are. It's kind of a stand-alone, I guess. I moved in with Duke at the end of November, if that gives you an appropriate time frame.**

**Enjoy!**

**-Jean**

"Here's the bill." Jean declared with a smile. "Is there anything else I can get you, Mr Brauer?"

"No, that's it, thanks Jeanie. I need to get to back. Marion's waiting for me. Give my regards to your pa, alright?" Conrad grinned, handing her a tip. Jean tucked it in her apron, and cleared his place, balancing the sets of dishes on top of a few she was already carrying.

"Will do, Mr Brauer. And you tell Miss Marion hi for me, ya hear? Ya'll have a good day, now." She called, rushing off to the kitchen. She dumped the dirty dished unceremoniously in the sink, and moved over to the coffee pot.

"DUKE! We need more coffee! Where's Miss Nora?" Jean hollered, and Duke stuck his head out of his office.

"No idea. I'll make the coffee though. No offense, kiddo, but your coffee tastes nasty."

"I warned you I can't cook." Jean shrugged, looking at a ticket on the bar. "Come on guys! Mr Hendrickson needs to get to work in twenty minutes, and he's still waiting on his eggs! Let's pick up the pace!"

"Coffee isn't cooking." Duke rolled his eyes. "But I'll get a pot going."

"Good. I'll be back." Jean declared, bustling out of the kitchen. "Your eggs should be up in just a minute, Mr Hendrickson, or else the kitchen staff will be GETTING THEIR PAY DOCKED!" she raised her voice so that they could hear her in the kitchen. "And don't worry about being late. I can vouch for you with Uncle Nathan. Duke's getting a pot of coffee on. Do you want some while you wait?"

"That'd be great, thanks, Jean." Dwight nodded amiably. "You're quite the workhorse, aren't you?"

"Someone has to be." Jean laughed, while glaring back at the kitchen. "Excuse me just a minute, Mr Hendrickson, I got a new table coming in.

"Good morning, ya'll! Merry Christmas! Welcome to the Grey Gull! I'm Jean, and I'll be your waitress this morning, can I get ya'll something to drink?" She called bustling over to the table. She took their order quickly, tearing the page out of her book. "Alright, I'll put your order in. It should all be up in just a pinch. Just give me a holler if ya'll need anything, ya hear?" She added over her shoulder as she made her way back to the kitchen.

"Jean!"

"Oh, hey Uncle Nathan!" Jean smiled. "Can I get you some coffee? Mr Hendrickson is here, if that's who you're looking for. Sorry he's running late, it's my fault, his breakfast isn't ready yet ."

"Actually, we're looking for your father. Is Duke here?" Audrey asked, and Jean bit her lip.

"Aw, come on! It's Christmas, Aunt Audrey, don't arrest him!" She begged, attaching the ticket to the bar. "ORDER UP!"

"We're not going to arrest him, Jean, we need his help on a case." Nathan clarified, and Jean looked up, alarmed.

"Ya'll can't take him! I can't run the Gull on my own!" She protested. "MISS NORA! NORA, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Please, Jean, we need him." Audrey begged. "It's a Troubled thing."

"It's always a Troubled thing." Jean sighed. "DUKE! POLICE!" She stuck her head in the kitchen. "Where's Mr Hendrickson's order?"

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" Duke called, coming out from the kitchen. He handed Jean the coffee pot. "Here you go kiddo. Dwight's order is coming off the grill now."

"Great. And it's just Uncle Nathan and Aunt Audrey." Jean rolled her eyes, accepting the pot. "Like you could ever get arrested in this town anyway." She hurried off to Dwight's table, scooping up his order off the bar. "Here you are, Mr Hendrickson. Sorry about the wait. Can I get you anything else?"

"Oh, no thanks Jean."

"Just give me a holler if you need me, alright? I gotta go protect Duke from the long arm of the law."

"Good luck with that." Dwight snorted, and Jean laughed.

"Thanks, Mr Hendrickson." She hurried back over to Duke, refilling three coffee cups on the way.

"Duke, I can't run the restaurant on my own. And you promised you'd let me off so I could go Christmas shopping!"

"Awfully late, isn't it?" Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow at Jean.

"Yeah, I've just been so swamped here lately. Now that almost everybody is off for Christmas, they've all decided they don't want to cook either. Usually Haven's finest are our only customers for breakfast." Jean shrugged.

"I'll tell you what, Jeanie." Duke petted her head, and Jean pulled away from him, raising an eyebrow. "After the breakfast rush, you can close her up for the day. It's Christmas."

"Thanks Duke." Jean sighed. "Have you seen Nora anywhere? I really can't do this all alone. Hang on." She left to grab three orange juices and a coffee for the family at table number four. "I'm worked to the bone!"

"Oh, Nora took off the rest of the week. Who works on Christmas, Jean?" Duke asked, and Jean threw her hands up in the air.

"Who keeps their restaurant open on Christmas?" She complained.

"I'll lock the doors now. Once these folks all leave, you can close up for the day, alright?"

"Fine." Jean sighed, and returned to her job, watching as Duke skipped away, scot free. "How does he do that?"

* * *

"Finally!" Jean declared, wiping down the last counter. She surveyed the empty Gull with a smile, and then pulled on her new coat, stocking cap, scarf, and gloves. Grabbing the keys to the place, she locked up the cash box in a desk drawer in Duke's office, and then locked the door as she left.

Jean had been saving up her tips for as long as she'd been helping out at the Gull, in order to buys gifts for them all. She didn't have a salary, but she'd amassed $30.50 since November, and that would have to be enough.

She headed off downtown, stopping at Rosemary's first.

"Hey, Rosemary!" She greeted cheerfully, and Rosemary smiled at the girl.

"Well, hello Miss Janine!" Rosemary called. "Merry Christmas!"

"Jean, please, Rosemary. Merry Christmas to you too!"

"What can I do for you?" Rosemary asked, and Jean went through her wallet.

"Um… Can I get the cheapest batch of Christmas cupcakes you have?" she asked, and Rosemary put a batch up on the counter.

"They're on sale today." Rosemary said with a wink. "Christmas day only. $3."

"You're going to go broke like that, Rosemary!" Jean cried. "I can't take that!"

"Oh, it's not for everyone." Rosemary reassured. "Only nice teenaged girls doing their Christmas shopping on a low budget. Tell the family hi for me."

"Will do. Thanks so much, Rosemary!"

"Not a problem. Do you want me to wrap the box?"

"Yes, please." Jean nodded. "Is it any extra?"

"Not for you." Rosemary laughed, and Jean smiled.

"You are too good to me." She accepted the box Rosemary handed her.

"Tell Officer Parker Merry Christmas for me." Rosemary added.

"I will." Jean nodded. "Got to get back to shopping. See you Rosemary!"

Three more boutiques later, Jean ended up at the Valufoods corner store for her last gift- Duke's. She'd seen his gift a few weeks back, and thought it was perfect, but hadn't gotten enough time or money to pick it up.

"That'll be $25.95." The clerk declared lazily, and Jean gasped.

"What? I don't have that much!" she sighed. "It wasn't that much last week."

"It was on sale last week. Special. But not this week."

"I only have $17.50!" Jean sighed, looking longingly at her gift.

"I'll cover the difference." A voice spoke up, and Jean whirled around.

"Miss Callahan!" Jean cried, and Claire grinned.

"Jean. How many times have I told you to call me Claire?"

"Sorry." Jean blushed. "Claire, I can't ask you to do that."

"Nonsense." Claire rolled her eyes. "I didn't get Duke a gift, so you can just tell him I chipped in on it. Anything for a friend of Tessie's."

"Speaking of Tessie, can you give this to her?" Jean asked, handing Claire a wrapped gift. "It's not much, since I'm a little short on cash, but I hope she likes it."

"I'm sure she will." Claire nodded. "I might stop by the Rouge later. I think Tessie's staying with her family all Christmas, so I don't think she'll stop by."

"That's alright." Jean shrugged. "You should go see Tessie and your brother. They're your family."

"True." Claire tipped her head.

"Nobody should be alone on Christmas, Claire. You wouldn't be intruding. Just call them." Jean prodded, and Claire laughed.

"How come I'm the psychiatrist, and you're the one advising me?"

"Because I know what it's like to not have family, and if I had one to go to, I would." Jean declared seriously, and Claire smiled sadly at her.

"You have a family now, Jean. It's a small, screwed up, funky, kind of family, but it's a family."

"Even if only one of us is actually related to me." Jean added with a laugh.

"If you ever want to talk to me, I'm free. I talk to your Aunt, you know. Being crazy isn't a requirement."

"But it helps." Jean snorted. "Everyone in Haven needs a shrink, Claire. It's a crazy town."

"So are you going to pay for this or not?" The clerk grumbled, and the two women looked at each other sheepishly.

* * *

"Aunt Audrey! Uncle Nathan! Come in!" Jean cried, opening the door. "Scott, good to see you!"

"You too, Cousin Jean." Scott replied, and the trio followed Jean into the state room.

"Duke's in the galley right now, getting the rest of the snacks, but come on in and take a seat!" Jean added, and the Wuornos' set their gifts down under the tree, sliding into the booths.

"I'm thinking you had a hand in decorating, Jean?" Audrey asked, and Jean laughed.

"Actually, this is all Duke. He's pretty big into Christmas." She replied.

"Does he still have that Santa suit?" Nathan asked, and Scott looked up, interested.

"Uncle Duke has a Santa suit?" He asked, and Audrey laughed.

"Yeah, this one time everyone went completely insane and thought it was Christmas in July because of this girl's snow globe Trouble, and everyone thought I was such a Grinch for not wanting to celebrate, and so Nathan locked up Duke in a Santa suit, to play a prank on me." She explained.

"He still has it." Jean nodded. "He's wearing it right now."

"Really?" Audrey laughed, and Duke entered, holding a tray of cheese puffs.

"Audrey! Nathan! Scotty! How are you guys?" he asked, setting out the tray for them. "Eat up, we've got plenty of snacks."

"Duke, you still have that suit? I can't believe it still fits!" Nathan snorted, and Duke raised an eyebrow indignantly.

"Of course it still fits." He grumbled. "What are you trying to say, Wuornos?"

"Nothing, Duke." Nathan declared innocently, and Jean grabbed a finger cake from a tray on the table.

"I know when I've been insulted." Duke replied, eyes narrowing.

"You didn't answer me right away. You had to think about it first, didn't you? I know when I've been insulted! I know when I've been insulted!" Jean quoted, laughing.

"Good grief." Duke finished, burying his face in his hands. Jean punched him in the arm.

"Can we get to the presents yet?" Scott asked, and Audrey glared at him. "What? It's not like you have that much catching up to do. You see each other every day."

"Aw, let the boy open his gifts." Duke shrugged. "Jean, get them, will you?" Jean obliged, hopping up and picking up the gifts from under the tree.

"To Duke from The Wuornos/Parker Family, to Aunt Audrey from Jean, to Audrey and Nathan from Duke, to Scott from Duke and Jean, to Uncle Nathan from Jean, to Duke from Jean, to Jean from The Wuornos/ Parker family, and to Jean from Duke." Jean listed off, handing them out.

"Jean, since you're the newest member of our family, do you want to go first?" Audrey asked.

"Um… ok."

"OPEN MINE FIRST!" Duke hollered, and Jean laughed.

"Sure, Duke." She replied, carefully pulling the paper aside to reveal… A Lord of the Rings Trilogy boxed set. She burst out laughing, and Duke raised an eyebrow.

"We HAVE to get you versed in this stuff, kiddo. Fear not, you'll join the rest of us in the real world soon enough."

"Open yours." Jean managed to choke out. Duke did curiously to reveal… the exact same thing.

"Great minds think alike?" He asked, and Jean nodded.

"Must. Claire chipped in too. She says Merry Christmas." She added. "Aunt Audrey next!"

"Cupcakes… from Rosemary's? Thanks Jean!" Audrey cried, stuffing the first of the dozen in her mouth. "Mmmmmhhmmmm."

"You're welcome." Jean laughed. "Scott?"

"A… football?" Scott held it up. "Er, thanks."

"Do you not like it?" Jean asked worriedly. "I thought everybody liked football."

"Um… it's great, thanks!" He declared enthusiastically, but Jean sighed.

"You hate it don't you?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"No, I love it! I'm going to go throw some hoops as soon as I get home!" He cried eagerly.

"He's really not a sports guy." Audrey stage whispered.

"I'm sorry!" Jean muttered. "Duke said you'd probably like it."

"Duke doesn't know anything." Nathan snorted.

"Hey!"

"Boys, can we not have a truce on Christmas? Nathan, open your gift from Jean." Audrey interrupted.

"A vintage police cap? Thanks Jean."

"And a 'World's Best Police Chief' mug." Jean added. "I hope you like them."

"They're great, thanks!" Nathan declared.

"Open yours, Jean!" Audrey cried excitedly.

"Oh My-lanta! You didn't! This is the best gift ever!" Jean shrieked. "A Huskers hoodie!"

"What's a Husker?" Scott asked, and Jean looked at him in awe.

"Only the greatest football team in all of history ever!" She cried. "The Nebraska Corn Huskers? No?"

"Sorry." Scott shrugged, and Audrey (unable to contain her excitement) called out:

"There's more!"

"An… art kit?"

"Nathan picked it up at Mary's." Audrey explained. "I don't know if you're an artist, but it's a nice kit."

"It's, um, wonderful, thanks!" She cried.

"Nathan and Audrey, don't bother opening your present." Duke called out. "It's just food."

"Oh, well thanks." Audrey declared. "I bet Jean's food is better."

"Oh, that's rich." Duke snorted.

"Snow!" Jean cried, running to the window.

"Not like that's new." Duke rolled his eyes, but joined his daughter at the porthole, draping his arm around her shoulder.

"But it's snowing! On Christmas!" Jean insisted. Audrey and Nathan joined them at the porthole, Scott trailing after them.

"Yeah." Nathan nodded.

"It is." Audrey added.

"Of all the Christmases I've experienced, this is the best one, by far." Jean declared, looking at her new family. She rested her head on her father's shoulder, and squeezed Audrey's hand. "Merry Christmas, ya'll."


	9. Chapter 9

**It's Jean, y'all. My Huskers lost the Capital One bowl on Jan first. It was 31-45, so it wasn't that bad but… what a way to start the New Year. I was majorly depressed. Anyway, this piece is getting us back to our timeline. It takes place at the same time as Duke's chapter, back in November, before the Christmas Chapter. Um… at this point I hadn't met Claire yet, I'd only talked to Tessie once, and… well, I think that's all the inconsistencies. This was all about three years ago, so the details get kind of fuzzy… Just ask if you're confused about anything. **

**Oh, and if you or anyone you know is Russian, please don't take offense at this. I don't mean to portray all Russians as the man in this chapter, but as the only thing I knew about him was that he was Russian, I just kind of clung to that. I don't know everybody in Russia, I just know this particular man. I'm sure all y'all are lovely people, bless your hearts, and I don't mean you any disrespect or harm by this one guy who you'll read about in a few. Russians are good people, and not at all like the unknown gangster in the chapter that follows!**

**STforRK: I wouldn't say Duke's exactly responsible, per se (and he'll hate me for saying that. Sorry Duke!) but you're right, he's definitely improved! He's trying, and that's what counts in my book…**

**KK161990: Thanks! I felt pretty proud :) You'll get to see more awesomeness this chapter, since Duke didn't get to see how cool I was before he got there… And yeah, my week with the Wuornos' (doesn't that sound like a t.v. show?) was pretty crazy… we'll get to that later.**

**NightSign: Duke's gotten a really swelled ego after what you said… I kind of wish you knew what my voice sounded like, so you could imagine me talking to you too! But, you know, I was only a baby the last time you saw me, so… Anyway, Duke says he'll take working more into consideration. Anything for his fans, he says. Like he's world famous- hah!**

**Damonficgirl: Thanks! We here in Haven really appreciate that. Or, at least, I do. Duke and them aren't too big on working on the story with me… They try. Anyway, that means a lot to me, so thanks for that! And here you go- I'm updating!**

**Thanks so much for your input, guys. We really appreciate all of you, whether you review or not. Just the fact that you're reading this, and I'm getting my story out there, that means the world to me.**

**No longer am I little anonymous Jean from Omaha. That's awesome, y'all.**

**Oh, and we don't own the show on Syfy! We only own ourselves…**

**-Jean**

"Alrighty, let's see here. What all do you need?" Audrey asked, sifting through the clothes racks. Jean shrugged, looking slightly lost.

"I have no idea. All of my clothes have been hand-me-downs. I've never been clothes shopping before."

"You poor thing." Audrey looked at her sadly. "Well, actually, you haven't missed much. Why don't you tell me what you have, and I'll figure out what you need."

"Okay. Well, I have five shirts, three pairs of jeans, five pairs of socks and undergarments, a pair of boots, a pair of sneakers, a jean jacket, and one dress." Jean counted off, and Audrey raised an eyebrow.

"That's it?"

"That's all I've ever needed."

"Well, okay then. We've got lots to work with. You'll need a warmer coat, and a raincoat, of course. It rains a lot up here. And you'll want some long sleeve shirts- I'm assuming you've only got tee -shirts. And a couple of dresses, skirts, shorts, a pair of Wellies, we'll go from there."

"Err… great." Jean nodded, unsure.

"So…"Audrey began, sifting through the racks. "Godmother/daughter shopping trip. Bonding time. Shall we…err… bond?"

"Sure. Um… where do we start?"

"Well… I know your favourite colour, you're allergic to celery, and you had a horse named Daisy. So, let me see…. My favourite colour is blue, I'm not allergic to celery, and I had a dog named Cookie for a day."

"A day?" Jean asked, as Audrey held a shirt up to her.

"Yeah. There was a little boy who needed Cookie more than I did." Audrey shrugged. "What do you think?"

"Kind of girly." Jean replied. "You're really nice, you know that?"

"Nice? What is this nice?" Audrey asked with a huff. "I'm always just…nice."

"I mean you genuinely care for people." Jean clarified. "You are honestly the kindest person I've ever met. Even back when you were the policewoman on my case, and not my godmother. You found me, Audrey. As soon as I lost Roger, Lily, and Matthew, you were there. You called me and got me a place to stay. You were the mom I never had. And then, you said you knew my dad, and told me everything about here, and you were just… nice. I mean, there's no other way to say it. You help people, Audrey. That's what you do. And you helped me." Jean concluded with a shrug. "Do you think this is my colour?"

"It kind of washes you out." Audrey shrugged, and then hugged Jean. "Jean, my dear, I couldn't not help you. You know what?"

"What?" Jean asked.

"I was a ward of the state too. Well, possibly. Because of the whole Lucy/Sarah thing, I'm not too sure on my past." Audrey explained. "But my point is, I remember being in your shoes, even if I'm not sure I ever was. I had to help you, Jean."

"Well, I'm glad you did." Jean grinned. "Y'all are the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Aww." Audrey cooed, placing her hand on her heart. "Look at that. We're bonding."

"Sure are." Jean laughed. "So, does that make you my fairy godmother?" Audrey tipped her head, considering it.

"I'm not exactly a fairy." She snorted. "And calling me Godmother Audrey just seems… weird. And a little bit creepy."

"Yeah, just a smidge. " Jean agreed. "So… how about Aunt Audrey?"

"Who has to be related to Duke, Nathan or me?" Audrey asked, and Jean grinned wickedly.

"The two of you can Duke it out." She stated, and Audrey groaned.

"That was bad, Jean. That was bad. But… Aunt Audrey, huh? I like it. Don't tell Nathan, but we're going to make Duke his brother."

"They do fight like brothers." Jean nodded, seeing Audrey's point.

"Plus, if Duke was my brother, it'd make… well… things weird." Audrey admitted, and Jean's eyes widened.

"Aunt Audrey, you didn't!" She cried, in horror.

"It was a long time ago, trust me!" Audrey exclaimed, holding her hands up in the surrender position. "Duke's just a friend, promise. "

"Audrey… are you really my mom?" Jean asked seriously, and Audrey choked.

"What? No! Lord, no. Jean, Duke and I never… no! Your mom is definitely… well, you know who she is." Audrey assured, looking around the store for eavesdroppers. "Ew." Audrey wrinkled her nose. She stood still for a moment, thinking, and then shuddered. "Ew!"

"I believe you, Audrey." Jean laughed. "What do you think of this dress?"

"A little bit country, but it's you. I like it." Audrey smiled. "Do you wear dresses a lot?"

"When I need to." Jean shrugged. "But not really."

"So then two's enough. Why don't we go get you some winter clothes? We'll have to go shopping again in the spring, since I doubt they have shorts and tank tops now."

"I don't mind." Jean smiled. "I like you, Audrey."

"I like you too, Farmer Jean." Audrey grinned. "Come on, let's get you a coat."

* * *

"Wow, Aunt Audrey. You really didn't need to buy me this much clothes." Jean declared, gesturing to the bags both women were laden with. Audrey grinned.

"Jean, you're a girl. And girls need way more clothes than they can fit in their closets. It's kind of a law." She shrugged.

"You would know." Jean pointed out, nodding at Audrey's regulation gun, and Audrey laughed. "But seriously, thank you so much Audrey. I owe you, big time."

"You do not. I'm your Aunt, that's what I do. If you're ever sad we'll go shopping again, because I've heard it's really good therapy."

"You've heard?"

"I prefer cupcakes." Audrey shrugged. "I like cupcakes."

"Cupcakes are pretty good." Jean nodded. "You'll be my go to person if I'm ever sad."

"And you're my go to gal." Audrey agreed. "But I don't get sad very often."

"It's ok. I don't either. I kinda want to be, though, cause that sounds kind of fun." Jean shrugged, and Audrey laughed.

"You want to be sad because it sounds fun?"

"You know, cupcakes and shopping and ice cream, and girl time. I've never had that." Jean said with a smile.

"Me neither. I guess we can always look to Hollywood to help us out." Audrey suggested, and jean nodded.

"That means chick flicks, right? So Duke and Nathan are gonna nerd me up, and you're gonna girl me up?" Jean asked, and Audrey pursed her lips.

"Hmm… Something like that?" She muttered, asking rather than stating.

"Yeah, I lost me too." Jean shrugged.

"Well, put on that nice new bright red double breasted blazer, and let's go!" Audrey cried happily, and Jean complied, pulling on her new mittens, scarf, and stocking cap as well. "Don't you feel so much warmer?"

"Yeah." Jean replied, snuggling into her coat. "Thanks so much Audrey. I mean it."

"Oh, don't you worry, niece of mine. I'm going to spoil you rotten." Audrey grinned, putting her bags in the trunk. Jean followed suit, and climbed in the passenger seat. "Gotta admit, it's kind of weird going to the Rouge without Duke. Where is he, anyway?"

"I don't know." Jean shrugged. "He said something about Nathan, and the Mafia, and then called you to take me shopping."

"Listen, Jean, are you ok?" Audrey asked, starting the car, and Jean looked up at her with a smile.

"I'm fine. Look- my bruises are almost all gone." She pointed, and Audrey smiled.

"Healed in a day. Miraculous. But that's not what I meant. I'm pretty sure this isn't how you saw your first day in Haven going."

"The shopping part was nice." Jean nodded.

"But…"

"The being held hostage part, not so much. But I'm fine."

"Jean, you don't have to be tough. I got kidnapped once too, and it was really…well, weird. And hard. Maybe you should talk to Claire about it?"

"Yeah, maybe." Jean shrugged, just to appease Audrey. "But, Aunt Audrey, I've been waiting for this day for my whole life. Sure, it kind of sucked, but it's still the day I've been waiting for. And nothing is going to take that away from me."

"I know."

"And don't worry about me getting injured or anything." Jean added. "I should have died ten times over by now, but my Trouble just keeps saving me."

"And we're glad for that!" Audrey grinned. "Do you have your gate card?"

"Yup." Jean smiled, flashing the pass.

"I have to go- got a case I'm looking into. I had a great time with you, Jean."

"Me too Aunt Audrey. I'll see you later." Jean called, swiping her pass and heading into the marina.

"Hey, er, Duke?" She called, looking around the boat. "Are you home?" Evidently he wasn't, since he didn't answer. Jean shrugged, digging in her pocket for the key to below deck. She was used to being on her own, and it didn't look like that was going to change anytime soon. She walked down the hall of the Rouge, listening to the echo of her own footsteps with a satisfied smile on her face. So her new home was more metal and buoyant than she expected- so what? She had a place to stay where people wanted her.

She headed down to her new room, pulling out her copy of The Grapes of Wrath, and grabbed Duke's old backpack, smiling slightly. It was kind of cool to use her dad's old backpack, even if she'd gotten a few snickers over it. It was navy blue, beat up, patched up, and had DUKE CROCKER embroidered across the back of it, but it was really sweet of Duke to give it to her. And so naturally, she loved it.

Despite it being chilly, Jean wanted to soak up all of Haven that she could, so she made her way back above deck, sitting in a plastic lawn chair and digging in Dukes- her- backpack for the assignment. Setting a notebook on her lap and tucking a pen behind her ear, she cracked open the book, losing herself once again in the Joad family's story.

"Excuse me." Someone called, and she looked up as a man she didn't know boarded the Rouge.

"Permission to board NOT granted." She declared quickly. "Sorry, sugar, I don't know you."

"Your father does." The man replied, and alarm bells started going off in her head. Hadn't Duke told her to stay away from people who said they knew him?

"Well, I don't, and I'm going to have to ask you to leave my boat."

"Your boat? Cute." The man replied, not moving. "The Cape Rouge belongs to your father, Jean Dukay Mitchell." Was that a Russian accent? Didn't Duke tell her to run the other direction if she met any Russians? She casually cast her gaze around, searching for an escape route.

"How do you know who I am?" Jean asked suspiciously, eyeing the ship's hold. Hadn't Duke said there were shotguns in there? If she couldn't flee, she could fight.

"I know everything about you and your father, Jean. I do my research."

"Then you'll know we're not the sort of folks to mess with." Jean replied evenly, gauging how long it would take her to get to the ships hold and engage a shotgun. Duke had said they were loaded, right?

"Oh, of course. I wouldn't dare approach you if your father were here." The man replied, and Jean's heart skipped a beat.

"What makes you think he ain't, darlin'?" She laughed. Bad Jean! No taunting the Russian Mafia! She noted the trapdoor out of the corner of her eye, and subtly scooted towards it. Hadn't Duke said he kept loaded handguns in there?

"I don't see him." The man spread his arms wide. "After what happened this afternoon, I wouldn't think he'd let his darling daughter out of his sight, let alone leave her home alone."

"How do you know what happened this afternoon?" Jean asked, eyes narrowing. How did Duke save her earlier? Well, she had no idea, because he was speaking FOREIGN the whole time! "DUKE!" She screamed out, hoping someone in the marina heard her. "DUKE!" She noted Jill and Ed looking her direction, pointing.

"I have my ways." The man replied coolly. "I know your father gave up something of mine in order to save you. And now, I'll be returning the favour." He finished, pulling out a pistol. Jean wasted no time, diving off her chair, popping up the hatch, grabbing a .9mm and cocking the hammer, aiming it at his chest. He chuckled.

"Do you even know how to use that thing? How old are you?"

"I thought you did your research." She laughed darkly. "I'm a Crocker, stranger, and what's more I was raised on a ranch. If you really want to doubt my ballistic skills, be my guest, but let me tell you; I've been hunting deer since I was knee-high to a jackrabbit, and I don't miss. Put. The gun. Down."

He did as she said, slowly, and Jean used that time to assess the situation. She was sitting on the deck, legs splayed out- not the best position if she did have to fire the thing. The recoil would probably hurt, especially as she'd never been handgun trained before. Stupid idea. Jill and Ed had both rushed off, and at the moment she was on the upside of this fight. What would Duke do?

"I want my box back." The man demanded, and Jean tried to channel Duke. How would he stall this guy?

"Oh my gravy, you're like a little kid!" She rolled her eyes. Well… Duke wouldn't have done that… "Just gimmie my box!" She mimicked. " Listen, Vladimir von Ivonovitch von Russian Man. We don't have your box, ok sweetie? So why don't you just track down the guys who took it, tell them I say hi, and take it back? See, this whole attacking innocent people thing? It doesn't go over too well here in America."

Mocking him and insulting his home country probably wasn't the best way to deal with this situation, but hey- he pulled a gun on her first! She had the right to back-talk him right?

"Do not insult Mother Russia." The man frowned, feeling his pocket. "Do not forget I too have a gun."

"Ah, but did you win first prize in the Junior Hunter Championships when you were eight years old? I don't think so." Jean drawled. "And for the record, I apologize if I insulted Russia and her people. I meant no harm to them. I only wanted to insult you, sugar."

Still, not a great plan.

He glared at her, and Jean could see the cogs in his head whirring, wondering if he could shoot this insolent child before she got a shot off at him. He decided not to risk it, and Jean liked to think that was because of her superior hunting skills. Jean Crocker- when she says she bagged a buck/doe this big, it really is that big. Or bigger.

"You can't keep that gun pointed at me forever, 'sweetheart'." Jean winced at his obvious mockery of her terms of endearment. She couldn't help it if she called everyone and their mother 'sugar', 'sweetheart' 'doll' 'pumpkin' and the like! "Either you shoot, or I get bored and make my move."

Jean smiled in relief as she noticed Uncle Nathan and Duke creeping up behind the man. So Jill and Ed had heard her after all.

"I don't need to keep it pointed at you forever. Only until they show up." She replied cockily, gesturing over his shoulder with her gun. The man looked behind him and Uncle Nathan…

Well, he did the coolest thing ever.

"Hey." Duke waved, and Uncle Nathan buried his fist so far in Mr Russian Man's face that Jean was afraid he'd never get it back again. (The fist, that is. Because it was stuck in Mr Russian Man's face? Get it?)

So. Cool.

Jean didn't waste any time, launching herself up from where she was sitting, and pistol whipping him across the back of the head hard enough to knock him into unconsciousness. She caught him as he slumped down to the deck, and then left him where he was.

"Oh, hi Aunt Audrey!" She cried excitedly, hugging the older woman as she arrived.

"Hey, nice job there Jean." Audrey replied with a smile, ruffling Jean's hair and moving on to check Russian Man's pulse.

"Hey Uncle Nathan. Hey Duke. I know you said to stay away from the Russians, but that guy was pretty insistent. I'm ok though."

"Yeah." Duke replied, turning to Nathan. "I'm thinking I'll leave for St. Petersburg ASAP. If I'm not back in two weeks, send someone after me."

"Uncle?" Nathan asked, turning to Jean.

"St. Petersburg?" Jean questioned, looking at Duke.

"Um… Russia?" Duke guessed, lacking a question to ask.

"Right, well, I've got an essay to write, and a book to read, and I've been distracted by two different hostage situations, three guns pointed at me, mysterious missing boxes, and two foreign cultures. I think I'm going to retire to Steinbeck for the night, and I'd better get an A on this essay, or I'll scream." Jean huffed. "Later, y'all."


	10. Chapter 10

**Jean here! I went back to school, so I dunno when Duke will be checking in again. Sorry about that you guys. But he has my password, so who knows? Maybe he'll update for me while I'm swamped with term papers. I'm taking astronomy this term- pretty excited about that. **

**Uh… let's see. Don't own the show on Syfy, even if it's about this pretty cool gal I know… but I don't own it. All rights reserved , yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill…**

**SyFyFan2012: From all of us here in Haven (well, I'll let you in on a secret- I'm not in Haven right now. But I'm going home this weekend!) thanks a bunch! We (or at least I) really appreciate it!**

**STforRK: Pretty crazy first day in Haven, huh? But, yeah, I got my paper written, thank goodness. I didn't exactly want to explain to my teacher that I didn't finish my homework because I was too busy being put in hostage situations… No, I think I got a B on it. Not my best work at such late notice, but better than nothing.**

**KK161990: Thanks! I felt pretty proud of myself too! But, yeah, you're right, mocking him wasn't the best idea…I lived to tell the tale, but definitely learned my lesson!**

**BrokenDarkFire: I don't exactly know how to respond to this, but I appreciate that you enjoy it! I'm just kind of writing what I remember and running with it, so that's probably why my 'voice' is so informal… I mean, I don't really know how Duke, Aunt Audrey and Uncle Nathan were before I met them, but I've seen their show, and they still act pretty much the same today…**

**Missy Prissy: Aww, thank you! You're review kinda made me miss Duke, but it's ok. I gave him a call when I got it, and I'm going home this weekend! You telling me that you can tell I'm his daughter? That just totally made my day, because my dad is my role model! (And Duke says thanks for making me miss him, because he enjoyed talking to me and missed me too. He owes you one.)**

**Onward!**

"Hit me." Jean declared, surveying her hand. Duke slid another card over to her, and she frowned.

"Do you want another?"

"Nah. I'll stand." She replied glumly, and Duke grinned.

"All right, show your cards." He declared, flipping over his. They added up to twenty, and the way Jean was carrying on, she probably went over. "Take that, Jean Bean!"

"Twenty-one!" Jean cried, slamming down her hands. "And that's how you play a game of cards!"

"What!" Duke cried, adding up her numbers in his head. He came to the same conclusion that she did, and frowned. "Dang it!" he cried, handing her a bag. They'd decided to use potato chips to play with, instead of poker chips. Jean grabbed a chip and set it on the table.

"So, how was your day?" Duke asked. "The kids any better?"

"Yeah. They mostly just left me alone. I think they got it all out of their system yesterday."

"That's good." Duke nodded, dealing her again. "Did you talk to Tessa?"

"I did! She's a real peach. A bit shy, but she's a sweetheart. I'll stand."

"Good. Tessa's cool. I'll stand too. What'd you get?"

"17." She declared, flipping her hand over.

"19!" Duke hollered. "In your face, sweet child of mine!"

"Shoot!" Jean laughed, as Duke snatched up a chip. He grinned, and reached into a bag that had been resting by his feet, pulling out some sort of a red cloth and tossing it at her. Jean raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"

"A bandana." Duke smiled. "Like a pirate. Put it on!"

"Alright…" Jean said patiently, expertly tying it around her head. Duke didn't even want to ask how she knew how to tie it without his help. "So… what now?"

"Oh, I got you a whole costume." Duke shrugged, handing her the bag. She took it from him, raising it up in the air questioningly.

"Explain…"

"I promised a little girl once that when I found my own little girl again I'd turn her into a Miss Pirate, so she'll be just like me." Duke shrugged. "I keep my promises."

"Who was she?" Jean asked, rooting through the bag and putting on an eye-patch. "And why did she think you were a pirate?"

"I live on a boat, don't I?" He replied with a grin. "I'm totally a pirate. And her name is Ginger. She was Troubled, and I was watching her while Audrey and Nathan looked for her dad. She wanted to know if I had any kids, and I told her about you."

"Well… A promise is a promise." Jean shrugged, taking the bag and heading below deck momentarily. She reappeared dressed in brown trousers, black knee high boots, a large white tunic, brown lace up vest, plastic sword strapped to her waist, tri-corner hat resting a-top her bandana, and copious amounts of gaudy jewellery. "I feel like I'm dressed for a Halloween party."

"Aye, ya look it too." Duke replied. "But I can't let you be a pirate all alone, lassie."

"Ok, you're weird." Jean stated, as Duke ran off to find his own pirate garb. "What do we do now?"

Duke sat back down at the card table, adjusting his own bandana and shrugged. "What pirates do best, I suppose. Gamble."

"I thought pirates plundered things best." Jean declared, raising an eyebrow. "Hit me."

"You got it." Duke replied, sliding a card her way. "And I'm getting too old to plunder."

"You're kidding me! This from the man who's sailing off to Russia to track down the guys who've tried to kill me twice. There's no way you're too old. Hit me again."

"Uh-huh." Duke acknowledged, handing her another card. "I kind of like being on the right side of the law right now. Ol' Nate's actually rooting for me."

"Just because he doesn't want you to die doesn't mean he's rooting for you. Doesn't he want to kill you himself?"

"Buzzkill." Duke frowned. "I ought to make you walk the plank."

"We don't have a plank." Jean snorted.

"We should get one." Duke mumbled, and then looked up with excitement. "We should get a plank, Jean!"

"Uh… I 'm gonna have to veto that one." Jean rolled her eyes. "You'd make me walk it too much."

"You're no fun!" Duke complained. "Can we at least get a canon?"

"Duke, you're ridiculous." Jean shook her head with a patronizing smile. "But I'm going to miss you while you're gone."

"I'm gonna miss you too, munchkin. But I'll be back soon."

"Yeah. What'd you get?"

"Uh… 13. You?"

"24." Jean groaned. "You win."

"Hah! Someone got greedy."

"Someone got a king." Jean snorted, miffed. "Are you all packed and ready to go?"

"Just about. Audrey and Nathan should be here any minute now. Don't have too much fun at their house, ok? Remember, they're the enemy. They like to have pancakes, and Sunday dinners and talk about their feelings and junk. They're like the perfect 2.5 kids with a white picket fence kind of family."

"And that's the enemy?" Jean laughed. "I'll stand."

"No! I'm losing ye already! You've gotta fight it, lassie! You can't pine for a nice little settled down family! We're pirates! We have adventures, and sail the open seas, and fight both the law and other pirates! You can't want to be confined to the American Dream!"

"No offence, Duke, but I'm kind of tired of fighting 'other pirates'. At least for now. I don't like getting held hostage too much, you know. You have to change things up a bit. Do they really have Sunday dinner?"

"Every Sunday at 3 pm. It's usually either a turkey or a ham. And they all pass the plates around and bless the food and Nathan cuts the bird/ pig, and it's all very Norman Rockwall-ish." Duke affirmed. "I'm sorry I got you into this… Show?"

"16."

"14. Dang!" Duke sighed, handing her a chip.

"What is going on here?" Audrey asked with a smile, boarding the Rouge.

"When did it turn Halloween?" Nathan added with a wry grin.

"We're pirates." Jean explained.

"For Ginger." Duke added.

"Ah." Audrey nodded. "The little girl who made you fall off the top deck of the Gull?"

"What?" Jean cried, twisting to look her dad in the face.

"She didn't mean to. I was playing pirates with her, and I… fell."

"How did you live through that?" Jean asked, astounded. Duke raised an eyebrow.

"This from the girl who got the crap beat out of her yesterday, and doesn't even have so much as a bruise today?"

"I heal. You don't." Jean stated looking him over. "Are you ok?"

"Kid, this was years ago. I'm fine." Duke rolled his eyes, grabbing a box off the deck. "Are you all packed?"

"I think so." Jean replied, holding up her bag.

"We'll give you guys a minute." Audrey declared, touching Nathan's arm. The two of them left the Rouge and walked down to the end of the pier. Jean bit her lip. She'd wanted to ask Duke something for a while, and even if it wasn't the most tactful moment, this might be her last chance.

"Duke?" She began hesitantly.

"What's up, buttercup?" He asked, motioning for her to go on, and Jean chewed her lip, measuring whether or not she actually wanted to hear the answer to her question.

"Have you… er… ever killed anyone?" She asked, and Duke set down his box slowly, looking at her.

"Why would you ask that?" He asked, and Jean already regretted asking.

"It's just… well, when Nathan picked me up from school yesterday, I threw it out there, just in a fit, you know? I was angry at how the kids were treating me and said something like 'It's not like Duke ever killed anyone, right?' And Nathan started acting really weird, and when I pressed him about it, he said I should take it up with you."

"Jean… you should sit down." Duke stated with a sigh, and Jean's eyes widened.

"Oh my God! It's true. You've-"

"No. Jean, listen to me." Duke interrupted, setting his hands on her shoulders. "It's not all black and white like that. There's… well, there's more to my Trouble than I've told you. When people in the Crocker family line kill a Troubled person, we can end the Trouble in their family line. A man… well, he literally forced my hand. I mean, he grabbed my hand and stabbed himself, to protect his family from his Trouble."

"So… it wasn't your fault?" Jean asked, and Duke shook his head.

"Jean, I gotta be honest with you. There was another."

"What?" Jean asked, leaning heavily against the rail.

"His Trouble… well, he killed family members and harvested their organs. He would have passed it on to his son. I had to protect his son from that."

"And now his son had to grow up without a father. I know how that feels, Duke, and I can tell you, I'd rather have a father that I'm disappointed in than no father at all. Because, trust me, it sucks."

"I'm sorry!" Duke raged. "But I left you in the hands of a loving family. You were supposed to grow up and have a good life. How was I supposed to know that Roger was just going to go _die_ and leave you? Huh? How was I supposed to know he would _die_ rather than raise you?"

He stared at Jean open mouthed as what he had said registered in his brain. Her eyes widened and brimmed with tears, as she stared at him in horror.

"I'm sorry, Jean. I worded that wrong. I didn't mean that. I'm so-"

Jean cut him off, slamming her fist into his jaw.

"No." she stated, her voice shaking. "You did. Roger was a good man, Duke. A good father. You could have learned a thing or two from him." And with that she turned, going ashore, and ran down the pier into the waiting arms of Audrey Parker. Duke watched, kicking over the card table, and sat down on the deck with a sigh, head in hands as Audrey and Nathan walked away with his daughter between them. He sighed, standing up and moving to the bridge to start up the Rouge.

* * *

"Well, here's your bedroom for the week." Audrey declared, showing Jean the room.

"Thanks, Aunt Audrey." Jean sighed, sitting on the end of the bed.

"Duke makes mistakes, you know." Audrey stated, sitting next to her. "He says stupid things that he doesn't mean. He's used to always being on the defensive, you know?"

"Yeah." Jean forced a small smile. "I'm kind of sorry I punched him."

"You do that a lot." Audrey frowned. "But you've got a killer right hook."

"Thanks." Jean sighed. "Audrey, what if he gets killed over in Russia and the last thing I ever said to him was that he was a bad dad, and a bad man?"

"Jean, he's not going to get killed. Do you remember how Nathan described Duke, your first night here?"

"He said something about Duke being a weasel who could worm his way out of anything." Jean replied, and Audrey nodded.

"As unflattering as it sounds, it's true. Duke always manages to get out of trouble."

"Well, that's good." Jean nodded.

"It's all going to be ok." Audrey soothed, hugging Jean.

"Am I going to get grounded for punching my dad?" Jean asked, and- Audrey grinned.

"Let's just say he deserved it, and call it even, ok?"

"Are you trying to be the cool Aunt?" Jean asked with a smirk, and Audrey tousled her hair.

"Darling, I'm your only Aunt."

"You actually pronounce the g?"

"What?" Audrey frowned.

"You say darling? I've ALWAYS said darlin'."

"Well, DARLING, not all of us are country girls." Audrey laughed.

"Too true." Jean shook her head. "Country folk are nicer."

"No way!" Audrey gasped, clasping her hand to her chest. "You said I was nice!"

"You are." Jean smiled. "So is Tessie. But, you know, there's so much more drama here. In Nebraska, a good punch to the face made everything better."

"And that's nicer?" Audrey asked, frowning.

"Yeah. We were all great friends." Jean shrugged.

"Well, if it works…" Audrey shook her head. "Where's Sadie?"

"Oh no, I forgot her!" Jean exclaimed, searching frantically for the stuffed rabbit. She stopped, looking up at Audrey. "How'd you know about her?"

"Duke talks about you a lot." Audrey admitted. "He really loves you. That's why I know he didn't mean to hurt you."

"Yeah, there's that." Jean nodded, momentarily distracted. "But… Aunt Audrey, I need Sadie. I can't sleep without her. I know it sounds silly, since I'm fifteen, and almost all grown up, but Lily gave her to me, Audrey. I need her! Lily says…" She broke off sadly. "Lily had a little girl before me. Her name was Molly. Sadie was supposed to be for her. She'd been in Lily's family for years. Her great grandmother owned her originally. But… Molly died the day she was born. That's why they adopted me, and Lily gave Sadie to me instead. I need her, Audrey. She's all I have left of my Other Family."

"I'll see what I can do. Is she still on the Rouge? Maybe Duke hasn't left yet."

"Yeah." Jean exclaimed, heart beating fast. "Can you call him?"

A knock at the door interrupted them. She looked at Audrey, who made no move to get up.

"Scott can get it. Sadie's more important. Let me dial…" She cut herself off, listening to the tone on the phone. "He's not answering." She swore. "Don't worry, Jean, if I have to, I'll call in the coast guard to stop him. You're going to get Sadie back."

"Jean! Mom! Door!" Scott yelled working his way down the hall.

"Who is it?" Jean asked, glancing at Audrey, who shrugged.

"Probably someone having Troubles. I'm on the clock 24/7, you know." Jean followed Audrey to the front door pulling it open to reveal Duke.

"You forgot Sadie." Duke declared sombrely, holding her out. "I know you can't sleep without her."

"Duke…" Jean breathed, taking the rabbit from him.

"And I couldn't leave with you mad at me." He concluded. "I lost you once, Jean, the day you were born, and I swore when I got you back that I'd never lose you again."

"I'm sorry I punched you." Jean bit her lip, eyeing the bruise on his face. "Here, let me…" She placed her palm flat on his face, and closed her eyes. Seconds later, the bruise was gone.

"Thanks, kid." Duke closed his eyes, trying to think of what to say. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said that about Roger. I know he was a good man, and I know you loved him. I'm really grateful to him for raising you. I'm glad he was a good father when I couldn't be. And you're right. I could learn a thing or two."

Jean stared at him for a full minute, before rushing into her father's arms. He buried his face in her hair, and she tipped her small face up to look at him.

"I've been told I'm a pretty good teacher."

"And I'm more than willing to learn. Now, I've got to get to Russia if we're ever going to get the Mafia off our tails. I'll see you in a week, ok?"

"Don't be late." Jean smiled. "I love you, Dad." Duke stopped, turning around to look at her. She'd NEVER called him dad before.

"I love you too, Jeanie. Stay safe."


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey ya'll! So sorry it's taken me so long to update. This new term is kicking my tail! I honestly have one day where I don't get done with class until after dark… Anyway, I figured Duke would update for me in my absence, but noooo, someone has to be a grumpy face and abandon me. I think he's got some case he's working on right now. I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you…**

**DUKE WAS HERE AND HE SAYS HI! AND THAT HE'S WAY COOLER THAN JEAN, SO THERE! Sorry guys, I've been way busy. But not too busy to hack Jean's files and add my own little personal tag line. Because we all know I'm way cooler than her, and I'm the one you want to hear from, right? Right.**

**Wow, Duke, thanks for that… **

**Spoiler Alert!**

**Oh, and by the way, I just got caught up on Haven the T.V. show to date, and I'm pretty weirded out by Claire being dead. And by Aunt Audrey and Duke going into the barn. Wouldn't that mean I wouldn't be Troubled? And I wouldn't be living with my dad? And Claire would be, you know, dead? I'm interested to see how that's going to play out. Claire's pretty miffed. I called her up, and she said she's pretty sure she doesn't remember dying. Who knows? Maybe she's a zombie…**

**It's Haven. Stranger things have happened. **

**STforRK: Ah, thanks! That's the chapter that made me go awww when I wrote it. Got an email from Duke, though. He thought it was too cute. I said hey, I'm a teenaged girl! What'd you expect? Glad to know someone gets me!**

**KK161990: I did! I remember pretty clearly the first time I called him Dad, so I had to throw it in there… It still feels pretty unnatural calling him that since I grew up calling him Duke, but it slips out every now and then.**

**And it's weird to be called Dad… But I can't say I mind. Love you Jean.**

**Syfyfan2012: Right? That last chapter was just full of the adorbs! Or, at least, the last couple seconds… Anyway, my week with the Wuornos family was… interesting… You'll have to stay tuned to see how it all went, I suppose. I can tell you though, as much as I love Aunt Audrey and Uncle Nathan that I prefer to live with Duke. I guess I'm just more used to his way of living…**

**CAUSE MY WAY IS THE BEST WAY! IN YOUR FACE WUORNOS!**

**Doks: Yeah, Aunt Audrey's house is… well, a lot different than Duke's boat, that's for sure. Yes, I do have Duke's Trouble (or at least, we assume I do) but close proximity to blood that's not mine tends to make me sick… like, I faint kind of sick, so we've never really had the chance to test it out. The silver eyes thing, I mean. As for the killing people thing? We have no idea. I don't exactly go around killing people… And I know, it's been a while. Sorry about that…School is just… ugh.**

**Nexophile: Oh, hey, I've never read that one. I'll have to check it out. Not too many people talk about my mom, so it'd be interesting to see her from your perspective. And yeah, I couldn't help but giggle watching the episodes where Duke talks about me like he's never gonna see me again. He was so melodramatic back then, don't you think?**

**No I wasn't Jean, leave me alone! You don't know what it was like! You don't know me! You don't know my life!**

**Uh… Sure I don't….**

"Jean? Jean, you're going to be late for school." Audrey called, poking her head in Jean's door. Jean shot up like a rocket, reaching for the clock.

"What? Aunt Audrey, I've got, like, an hour." She complained, placing the clock back on the bed stand and settling in to her comfortable bed.

"Exactly." Audrey rolled her eyes at the younger girl. "Breakfast's on the stove. Get dressed and come on."

"Breakfast?" Jean asked, seriously wondering if she would ever again move from this spot. "You mean you eat more than a muffin on the way out the door?"

"Of course." Audrey rolled her eyes. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day you know. Now hurry it up!"

"I don't know if I can." Jean replied, rolling over and closing her eyes. "I'm afraid your blankets are holding me prisoner."

"Well, let's see what we can do about that." Audrey stalked over to the end of her bed and yanked the sheets off her. Jean sat up with a start.

"Cold!" She cried, and Audrey laughed, tossing the blanket back at her.

"Welcome to Maine, my dear." She declared, leaving the room. "Get dressed."

Jean shut the door behind her, grabbing her bag off the floor. Her first couple of days at school she'd worn a dress or skirt just to be dressy, but no more. It was cold, and Jean was wearing jeans. She threw on an Omaha High sweatshirt, tried to tame her mass of unruly Harry-Potter-esq hair (She ended up just stuffing it in a high ponytail) stuck her tongue out at her reflection, and trudged downstairs where the Wuornos' were waiting.

"Good morning Jean!" Audrey declared perkily as Jean slunk into the kitchen. "How do you like your eggs?"

"Um… cooked?" Jean mumbled, still half asleep. Audrey laughed and cracked an egg in the pan.

"Hey, Jean, I thought you didn't go to public school." Uncle Nathan frowned, glancing at her shirt. Jean nodded.

"I didn't, but most of the clothes the orphanages provided for us came from thrift stores. We wore what we had, you know?"

"Of course." Nathan nodded, picking up the morning paper. "Audrey, there's been another murder."

"What?" Jean cried, suddenly alert. Audrey shook her head, scooping up the eggs out of the pan.

"Nothing to worry about Jean, we've got it under control. Nathan, we don't talk about work at the breakfast table, you know that. Do you two want orange juice?"

"Sorry Audrey." Nathan declared, folding the paper. "Yes for juice. Where's Scott?"

"Still in bed." Audrey sighed. "SCOTT! HURRY UP! How about you, Jean you want some juice?

"Sure, thanks Aunt Audrey." Jean nodded, and Audrey poured two glasses.

"Did you make pancakes?" Nathan asked, and Audrey laughed.

"Yes, I made pancakes. Here." She nodded, sliding a plate in front of him. It was piled high with pancakes, eggs, and bacon, and Jean's mouth watered. At Duke's, her breakfast generally consisted of an apple and a soda pop.

"I love you Audrey." Nathan breathed, practically inhaling the pancakes. Audrey laughed and set a plate down in front of Jean.

"Love you too, Tough Guy." She snorted as Scott came meandering into the kitchen, bleary eyed with sleep.

"Morning." Scott groaned, accepting the plate his mother handed him and sitting down at the table next to Jean.

Duke wasn't kidding. It was super American Dream, 2.5 kids and a white picket fence-ish. Which was kind of weird, since she didn't really see Aunt Audrey as a very homemaker-y type. She shovelled a forkful of eggs into her mouth- sure enough, they were overcooked.

"She tries every morning, but she can never cook them quite right." Scott nodded, catching the look on Jean's face.

"Better than I could do." Jean shrugged truthfully, and proceeded to eat the most nutritious breakfast she'd had in her entire life. Or at least, since she'd left the ranch.

And then Audrey and her family began to talk about the most mundane things they could think of, for, like, an hour. They went through the weather (freakishly cold), what Scott thought he'd be doing in class today (He had a presentation on how mass media shapes history), what they wanted for dinner (meatloaf), Audrey's shopping list, EVERYTHING. It was very cute and familial and all, but it was kind of off putting for Jean. She generally ate her breakfast in the car on the way to school, and she and Duke were close in that 'I-don't-really-have-to-talk-to-you-to-know-you' sort of way.

"Jean, are you ready for school?" Audrey asked, looking over at Jean's empty plate. She'd chosen to scarf down her food rather than talk like everyone else.

"Yeah. Just need to get my backpack." Jean shrugged.

"Great, just wash up your dishes and you and Scott can head out pretty soon. The school's not too far down the road."

Jean excused herself, heading over to the sink uncertainly. The two day's she'd spent with Duke, they either just ate with their hands or ordered takeout, and she hadn't had to do dishes. At the orphanage and at Lily's, it'd been done for her.

"Just rinse them off and load them in the dishwasher." Scott explained, noting her discomfort. "Here." He got up to clean off his own dishes, and Jean copied him.

"I take it you know how to get to school?" Jean asked, and Scott nodded. "Good. Because I have no idea."

"I didn't expect you to." He shrugged. "Grab your bag and let's go."

Jean followed him to the door while Audrey started up the dishwasher. She met the two on the porch, kissing her son and hugging Jean.

"Bye you two! Have a good day! Love you Scott!" she called, and the two waved heading off.

"So, Jane, tell me about you. You were kind of out of it the first time I met you. All the driving, I guess."

"Uh, it's Jean, actually." Jean corrected, and Scott frowned.

"Yeah, that's what I said. Jane."

"No, Jean! Like, denim? Is my accent that strong?"

"Oh, Jean! Wow, I swore you were saying Jane. Sorry!"

"It's fine." Jean shook her head. "Anyway, I don't really know what to tell you… I love football. Nebraska Corn Huskers! Uh… I really like classic literature. Hey, before you came down, your dad said something about there being another murder. What's that about?"

"Just what it sounds like." Scott shrugged. "He is the police chief. Murder happens."

"But aren't you curious?" Jean asked, running in front of him and turning to face him, a twinkle in her eye. "I mean, come on! Don't you just smell a mystery?"

"Only thing I smell is my mom's pancakes." Scott groaned. "I'm still hungry."

"I can't see how. That has to be the biggest breakfast I've ever had in the history of my entire life." Jean snorted. "I can't believe you're not even remotely curious when your father brings up the word MURDER at breakfast."

"This is Haven." Scott shrugged. "And mom and dad have been dealing with its craziness long before either of us came around."

"We should investigate!" Jean cried, excited, looking like a little kid on Christmas morning.

"Uh, no can do, cuz."Scott shook his head, and Jean frowned.

"Why not, cuz?"She imitated him, causing him to stop in exasperation.

"Cousin Jean from Nebraska, you listen to me. Leave the murder investigations to the police. It's dangerous. You're going to get yourself killed."

"Hello, Cousin Scott from Maine, I'm invincible!" Jean laughed. "I heal. I don't know if I CAN die. Anyway, I bet it's something Troubled. I'm Troubled, and you probably are too. So that makes it our business. What if they go after us next?"

"I cannot believe you're the older one." Scott frowned. "Do you have a sense of self-preservation?"

"Do you have a sense of adventure?"

"You are just like your father!" Scott cried, frustrated, and stalked past her.

"Thank you." Jean grinned.

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Sure it was. Duke's the best dad ever."

"I beg to differ." Scott scoffed. "Uncle Duke is incredibly irresponsible. Apparently just like you. You probably developed an invincibility Trouble just to survive."

"You shut up." Jean frowned. "Duke's saved my life twice now, and I've only been here two days."

"Yeah, and he's the one who got you attacked in the first place. Great job." Scott rolled his eyes. "Point is, whatever's going on, we're leaving it to the police."

"Are you sure you're a Wuornos?" Jean asked peering at him. "Lighten up! Solving crime is in your blood!"

"And apparently meddling is in your blood."

"Duh, Wuornos." She snorted. "Where's the fun in keeping your nose where it belongs?"

"Oh, I don't know Crocker. Maybe some of us find being alive fun." Scott shot back, and Jean rolled her eyes, spotting Tessie in the distance.

"Whatever spoilsport. Ruin my fun. I'm gonna go hang out with Tessa. Catch you later Wuornos!"

"See you Crocker." He called half-heartedly, but Jean was already at Tessie's side, taking her arm.

"Tessie! I smell a mystery. Are you in?"

"A- a mystery?" Tessa asked, wrinkling her brow. "What kind of mystery?"

"A murder mystery! With action, adventure, and magical powers!" Jean cried dramatically.

"Well, as long as there's magic…" Tessie smiled shyly.

"What a right pair we make!" Jean cried ecstatically. "You're the perfect Eleanor Tilney to complete my Catherine Morland! We'll be like Frank and Joe! Like Nancy and Bess! Like Bert and Nan! Like Mulder and Sculley!"

"Only if I get to be Frank." Tessie laughed, and Jean grinned.

"Deal."

"And this is only for fun, right? We won't get in the way of the police?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm a horrible detective. We'll be miles away when Aunt Audrey closes the case. We'll probably end up suspecting each other. You're going on my suspect list right now. I've got my eye on you, Theresa Callahan."

"And you're at the top of my list Jean Crocker." Tessa giggled. "Case closed."

"Not yet! We haven't investigated! In fact, we don't even really know the mystery…Get a copy of the Haven Harold and meet me after class! We've got some sleuthing to do!"


	12. Q&A, anyone?

Hey y'all! So sorry it's taking so long. School is really crazy right now. Just letting y'all know, this is sort of an update, but sort of not. I don't really have time right now to post a full chapter and I feel like y'all really deserve the best, so here's what I'm going to do.

Q&A! I feel like I don't really know y'all, and y'all don't really know me, so send in any questions you have. Duke's game too- He's in Nepal right now, but I'll forward all y'all's questions to him. Tell me about yourselves, ask me about me, or Haven, or whatever y'all want to know. I'll try to answer them for you between classes and hopefully get a real chapter for y'all while I'm at it. I just didn't want y'all to think I was abandoning you or anything.

So ask away! Whatever you want to know (as long as it's appropriate…). My shoe size, favourite book… anything. This is your chance to be a part of my story! I want to meet all the people reading my life, see what you want to know, and… I dunno, establish a relationship with y'all?

So sorry for the delay, but I'm doing all I can for y'all while I can. Yesterday I literally finished classes at 11 at night. Yeesh! My world's gone just a little bit kooky…

-Jean


	13. Chapter 13

**The term is almost over! Then I get to go back to Haven and my family, and jeepers, I just can't wait! Y'all have all been super understanding about the craziness this term, and I really appreciate all y'all's support.**

**I decided to write up this chapter instead of doing my term paper, so my grade will hate me, but I guess you guys will like me, right? I can work on my paper tomorrow. That's a thing…**

**Guest: Really? Thanks for the heads up. I just figured that since in the eyes of the site I am a fictional character, that anything I say would be seen as a story post. Kind of. It's a confusing sentiment, being a real person and a fictional character as well. I don't know why they couldn't have just made Haven a non-fiction series… Anywho, thanks for letting me know. I'll be more careful in the future.**

**KK161990: I'm jealous of your graduation date… congrats, by the way! My favourite book is To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, because I feel like the main theme applies to me and my family, and really all of the Troubled. People try to judge us before they know us, and so I guess I kind of identify with Tom Robinson. Aunt Audrey and Duke really did go into the barn, but they don't like to talk about it, so I'm as much in the dark as you are. I'm not even sure they'll let me see that episode, so you might have to let me know what happens… And yeah, I've had a couple of run-ins with the Guard. It's kind of inevitable here in Haven, but since I'm Troubled myself they mostly leave me alone. And honestly, it's getting better. They really are just about helping the Troubled, they just sometimes take pretty extreme measures…**

**I don't own the show, but I do own myself. And just in case you wanted an update, Duke is on his way home now. He should be staying the night in Paris.**

"Ok, Tessie, let's see what we've got." Jean declared emphatically, spreading the morning's edition of The Haven Herald out on a picnic table. Tessa looked over her shoulder, scanning the article with her.

"There!" She cried, pointing to an article.

Man Found Dead Near Haven Port. Cause of Death Unknown.

"That looks like it alright. Nice going Tessa." Jean nodded. She scanned the article quickly, pulling out a spiral notebook. "What do we do now?"

"Um… well, Nancy Drew always asks people questions." Tessa shrugged. "After a while they usually fess up. Or try to kill her."

"Let's avoid the killing part." Jean declared, making a face. "What questions do we ask people?"

"And who do we ask?" Tessa added. Jean groaned, dropping her face into her hands.

"This is harder than I thought." She sighed, and then lifted her head, re-reading the article.

"Well, he was found at the port. You should write that down. Don't you live at the port?"

"Yeah." Jean replied, scratching that down in her notebook. "The Rouge is moored in the marina over there. Do you want to go poking around over there?"

"Maybe, if we can't find anything." Tessa shrugged. "You didn't notice anything?"

"Nah. I stayed at the Wuornos' last night. Duke left on a business trip. Does it say anything about how he died?"

"Doesn't look like it" Tess shook her head. "It's like his heart just stopped. From what the article says, there aren't any lacerations, bruising, or anything." Jean raised an eyebrow, and Tessie shook her head. "What? I like CSI."

"More like you live in Haven." Jean snorted. "I haven't been here for too long, but even I can tell that this town is definitely weird. Is there anything else?"

"No, not really. The man was identified as Maxwell Lester." Tessie read off. "Do you know him?"

"I don't really know anyone." Jean shrugged. "Do you?"

"Not a clue. Why don't we Google him and then continue the case when we've got more information?" She asked, and Jean nodded, folding up the paper and tucking it in Duke's backpack.

"Good plan. So what now?"

"The farmer's market is this week. Do you want to go?"

"Definitely." Jean replied, standing up and following Tessie. The two girls trekked downtown in the cool Haven weather.

"I love the market." Tessa declared. "There was a case there a long time ago, but now it's completely safe. They've even turned it into a little festival."

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Jean laughed. "I didn't really get out much in Nebraska."

"Really?" Tessie asked. "I know you were home-schooled, but I figured you still hit the town."

"From the time I was ten I was raised in an orphanage." Jean explained, picking up an apple and inspecting it. Tessa gasped sympathetically, and a voice behind them laughed mirthlessly.

"An orphanage? That's rich!" it declared, and the two girls spun around.

"Roxanne." Jean spat, and Tessie's eyes widened.

"I hope you're planning on paying for that." Roxanne added, nodding at the apple, and Jean frowned, placing it back in the vendor's barrel.

"I'm not a criminal." She declared. "You don't even know me."

"I don't have to." Roxanne snorted. She rolled her eyes and left, humming 'One Jump Ahead' from Aladdin under her breath.

"You know, I liked that song before now." Jean commented to Tessie, moving on.

"Sorry I didn't stand up for you." Tessie blushed. "Roxanne scares me."

"Don't sweat it." Jean shrugged. "She's nothing I can't handle. Besides, I think it's sweet that you don't like confrontation. The world needs more of you, Theresa Callahan."

"Thanks." Tessie smiled. "I'm gonna buy a pear. Do you want one?"

"Nah. Pears are nasty." Jean shuddered. "I kind of want to try a kumquat."

"Do you have any money?" Tess asked, and Jean shook her head.

"Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat, otherwise we'd get along." She quoted the song Roxanne was just humming, and Tessa laughed.

"I'll pay for you." She offered, grabbing a kumquat and heading to the vendor. "Hello, Mr Saunders. How are you today?"

"I'm doing fine. How about you, Miss Callahan? Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Jean Crocker. She just moved here. She's really nice." Tessa replied, handing Mr Saunders some cash. Jean waved at him with a smile.

"Crocker?" Mr Saunders asked, and Jean straightened defensively.

"What about it?" She asked, and Tessa elbowed her in the side.

"Nothing. It's just I knew another Crocker that comes to these markets a lot. I expected to see him today, actually."

"Oh, is it Duke?" Jean asked, and Mr Saunders nodded.

"Do you know him? Is he alright?"

"Oh, he's fine." Jean grinned. "Just away on business. Sorry for getting defensive. A lot of people have been ribbing me about him."

"I could see that." Mr Saunders nodded. "Haven can be fairly unforgiving. How do you know him?"

"He's my father." Jean stated, and Mr Saunders' eyes widened.

"Jean? You finally came back?"

"That I did." Jean grinned. Suddenly the mobile that Duke had bought her went off, and she pulled it out of her backpack quickly. The newspaper fell out on the ground, but Jean left it, more concerned with how to answer her phone. It was new, in her defence. Tessa sighed and hit 'talk' for her, and Jean smiled sheepishly, raising the mobile to her ear. "Hello?"

"Jean Dukay Mitchell Crocker, where are you?" A very angry voice on the other end yelled. Jean winced.

"Um… I'm at the farmer's market with Tessa. Is there a problem Aunt Audrey?"

"Yes, there's a problem! Why didn't you tell me where you were going to be? I waited for you at school for an hour! Scott said he hadn't seen you all day! Do you know how scared I was? I was about to send one of the squad cars out looking for you! What if you'd been kidnapped, huh Jean? Did you think?"

"I… I'm sorry Aunt Audrey." Jean mumbled, taken aback. "I didn't know you were going to pick me up after school. Duke never does. I just hang out until he gets off his shift at the Gull. I didn't think you'd worry."

"It's ok, Jean." Audrey sighed, relieved. "I'm just glad you're alright. It's just with this case we're working on now, I was- I'm just glad you're ok."

"I'm really sorry I worried you. Do you want me to come home?"

"No, come home when you're ready. Just… call me next time first, ok?"

"Got it." Jean nodded. "I'll let you know if we go anywhere else."

"Alright, kiddo. I'll see you when you get back." Audrey declared wearily, and Jean bit her lip guiltily.

"Ok Aunt Audrey. See you later." Jean hung up the phone with Tessie's help, and scooped the newspaper off the ground.

"Shame about ol' Maxwell." Mr Saunders remarked, seeing the front page. The two girls shared a glance.

"You knew him?" Jean asked, accepting the kumquat he handed her. Now she only had to figure out how to eat it…

"Oh, yeah, he used to come by my stand every Saturday, even if it wasn't a market day. Always bought a bushel of corn and a pound of apples. He was a nice man." Mr Saunders shrugged sadly.

"Do you have any idea what happened?" Jean asked. "Was he sick?"

"Sick? No, Max was healthy as a horse. It was a huge surprise." Mr Saunders sighed.

"Don't worry. Aunt Audrey is on the case. She'll figure it out. Do you have any information on him that we could give her? Like where he worked or if he had a problem with anyone?" Jean asked, and Mr Saunders laughed.

"Well, aren't you a little detective! Just like your father, sticking your nose in Audrey's cases. Well, he worked at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, and no one would want to hurt him. He was a sweet man." Mr Saunders supplied. "I don't know much else. Sorry."

"That's okay. We're not too great at the whole detective thing anyway." Tessie giggled. "I tried to close the case before we even had a suspect!"

"Well, you two stay out of trouble, you hear? The town's already thinking Crocker Jr. is a juvenile delinquent. Don't give them any more reasons to turn on you, and the whole thing will die down soon enough." Mr Saunders suggested and Jean nodded, checking her mobile.

"Will do, Mr Saunders." She called. "Tessie, I've got to head home. Scott just texted me. He said Uncle Nathan just got home, and they're about to send a squad car to pick me up and take me out to dinner if I don't get home soon."

"I think he over exaggerated." Tessie said, pointing at the Bronco in the distance. "Have fun at dinner!"

"Wait, where are you going to go?" Jean asked, looking around. "There's a… a very Troubled person on the loose. You can't be out and about alone."

"Relax." Tessie laughed. "My Aunt's therapy practice is just around the corner. I'll just go hang out with her."

"As long as you have a plan." Jean nodded, heading towards the Bronco. "Bye Tessie! I'll see you tomorrow! Call me if you need me!"

"Will do." Tessie replied, waving. The door to the Bronco opened, and Jean hopped in beside Scott. "Have fun!"

"Sounds like you two had a productive day." Audrey called from the front seat. Nathan looked up to watch her from the rear view mirror.

"Productive? Not really. Tess just decided to show me the town. I got a kumquat." Jean offered, holding up the fruit.

"How do you even eat that?" Audrey asked, looking at the fruit with interest.

"No idea. I was thinking about hitting it with a hammer and seeing what that did." Jean shrugged, and the Wuornos' laughed.

"Do you have any homework?" Nathan asked. "How'd that report go?"

"Well, I turned it in." Jean shrugged. "I managed to finish it, but I don't know how good it is. And I've got maths homework."

"Fun." Scott groaned. And Audrey giggled.

"You've inherited your father's maths skills, I presume." She replied, and Jean groaned.

"If you mean his lack of skills, yes. Not to mention the fact that Haven High isn't learning the same things I left off at back in Nebraska."

"Don't worry about that." Scott shrugged. "You're working on functions, right? I can help you out. I could probably even lend you my old notes. I bet they're better than the little snippets you can fit in between Uncle Duke's biology notes and doodles."

"Thanks!" Jean grinned, and Nathan started up the Bronco again.

"What do you want for dinner, kiddo? We can stop by Benji's later. I used to go there all the time when I was your age."

"Jean really doesn't know the town, dear. Why don't you pick somewhere we all like so she can form her own opinions?"

"You always know best… alright guys, let's go." Nathan groaned, and drove the Bronco deep into the heart of Haven.


End file.
